Hidden strength of Uzumaki Rewrite
by Zarodius
Summary: To all of those who havent read the summary, tough luck. Hope you guys enjoy this new, very LONG chapter. I've made some head way on a couple of things, and you guys can expect a serious plot twist after the Sasuke retrival arc.
1. The beginning

Hello all, Zarodius here. First of all, to my readers, i'd like to apologize about the long wait and posting "Hidden strength of Uzumaki" as a new story. The wait was due to the fact school started back in, along with a part-time job and working on getting my license, things have been hectic. A few of the more noticable changes are as follows: Anko is no longer Naruto's Mother figure. To many peple were pming me asking when something was going to happen between them because i listed them as a pairing in the beggining as a mistake. So, no more of that. Also, the timeline changed to starting off when they got out of the academy. This fit better with something i have planned. And most importantly, I have a plot that DOSEN'T suck now. So, I hope you enjoy what iv'e written, I hope the following chapters come out faster than this one did. Please review and tell me what ya think.

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It was night. A full moon shone over the streets where a miniature war was waging. A man ran through the pandemonium leading a woman by the hand towards a dock. Fierce fighting surrounded the two as he continued to weave there way through. The man had grey, almost silver hair and yellow eyes. He wasn't tall, but his muscle mass made him huge. He wore a loose fitting martial arts gee, A giant mace of some sort was strapped to his back, but he seemed to carry it as if it was little more than a paper weight. A Katana was strapped to his right side. A grey wolf tail sticking out of his pants and two wolf ears perched on top his head. The woman was just shy of being as tall as the man. She had bright blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a white pair of shinobi pants, with a grey shirt that was stretched out over a swollen stomach. She was pregnant. She too had wolf ears and a tail.

It was obviously cold outside. You could see steam rising in the air from people breathing, or freshly open cuts on bodies. The street and surrounding rooftops had a small layer of snow on them, like a layer of dust on a table top. The two reached the boat at the dock, there was no one else on board. The man helped the woman onto the boat and untied it. He put his foot on the boat and pushed it away. The woman started to scream for him to get on, but it was drowned out, only a few words could be heard, and those few were nearly overpowered by the sounds of the battle waging near by.

As the boat started to slowly float away the man turned back to the fight, he took the giant battle mace from his back and charged forward, swinging at anything that got to close...

..p...

...Eep...

...BEEP...

...BE-click...

"HWAAaaaaahhhhhhh..." yawned a young grey haired boy. "It should be against the laws of nature to wake up this early..." He said aloud as he got out of bed and stretched, shaking off his sleepiness. They boy was about 5' 8" with grey, almost silver shoulder length hair that came down in wild spikes. He walked to the bathroom and stepped into the shower, getting ready for the day. As the water woke him up, his mind floated back to the dream he'd just had. It wasn't like a normal dream. He didn't only remember bits and pieces of it when he woke up, he remembered all of it, everything in vibrant detail like he had seen it in real life. Then there was the fact that it seemed...real. He thought everything about it looked familiar, though, he couldn't tell because the dream wasn't very long. One other thing he did notice, possibly the most important, was the tails and ears, they were just like his. Could he be related to them in some way?

The boy stepped out of the shower and started to brush his teeth. Most of the teeth were normal, but his two canine teeth seemed abnormally long and sharp. He had a horrible scar that marred his eyes. A large X had been cut just above his left eye, stretching across his nose and across his right eye, and vice versa. His eyes had been gouged out, completely ruined, but he never let that stop him. His skin was a light tanned color, from spending a lot of time in the sun. He was also covered in an alarming number of scars. The most unusual characteristics of the young boy however were his two wolf ears that stuck up out of his hair and the wolf tail that stuck out of his pants. He was twelve year old Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto finished brushing his teeth and stepped out of the bathroom. He put on his choice of clothes, A pair of gray cargo pants, a white muscle shirt and a thin, black long sleeve shirt with a pair of sandals. He put his kunai pouch on his left leg, and a set of dark sunglasses over his eyes to hide his eyes. He ate a quick meal and grabbed his keys. Before heading out the door of his apartment, he brought his hands together and did a few quick signs. "Concealment Jutsu!" Naruto yelled. His tail disappeared, as did his ears, replaced with normal human ears. His scars were gone too. He walked out his door and locked it behind him, heading for the academy. Today was the day he became a gennin.

Walking through town, Naruto couldn't feel the stares he usually got. It was one of the reasons he liked being out in the mornings, not a lot of people were up yet. He took to the roofs to get out of the street. He easily hopped from one roof to the next. Despite his age, he was incredibly strong. That, coupled with the fact he had also been weight training since he was eight and started at the academy led to him being in great physical condition. The results were excellent in Naruto's opinion. It had been the kyyubi's idea to start as a matter of fact.

Yes, even with the law the third had set up to prevent the knowledge of the kyyubi being learned by the new generation, Naruto knew about the Kyyubi, and even talked with her on a regular basis. He was stumped as to why she attacked, She seemed rather nice even if she was a demon. Though he had asked why she attacked before, she would only say "I'll tell you when your ready". Naruto was brought out of his mental wanderings when he nearly over jumped the roof he was aiming for. Shaking his head of clean of it's mental cobwebs, Naruto started to pick up the pace headed for the academy.

Naruto hopped off the last roof and landed in a crouch on the ground just outside the academy gate. Standing up, he patted some dust off himself and headed inside. The academy wasn't huge, but it was a decent sized building. Max capacity it could probably hold two hundred people, but as far as Naruto knew there was never more than twenty or so students in at a time. The building had a running track on one side, and a throwing range in the back. Inside the actual academy were a few weight rooms, a gym, and the class rooms.

He got to his own room to hear what sounded like most of the class. For most blind people, it might be hard to find a seat...or be a ninja at all. But Naruto and kyyubi worked out a new sense of sorts for Naruto. Using kyuubi's near infinite Chakra, Naruto could create a sort of sphere around him that left a mental imprint of what things looked like in his mind. It was almost like blinking as fast as you could while walking. When he was standing still, he would get a constant picture of what was around him. When he or something else moved, he would get a bunch of red tinted, fast paced imprints as stuff moved into or out of his chakra sphere. Just because he had this sense didn't mean he couldn't fight without it. The kyyubi had taught him various blind fighting styles from the time it was alive, along with some nin-jutsu, but not alot.

"Looking" around, Naruto found an open seat next to Sauske Uchia. Sauske wasn't that bad of a guy in Naruto's opinion, he was just to cold for him to become friends with. Not to mention he was a stuck up prick to most everyone. Naruto walked over and sat down next to him. Through some unspoken agreement, neither acknowledged the other's presence, and they were both content.

Just as Naruto had started to think back to his dream he heard them coming. Before he actually saw them, it sounded like a miniature stampede taking place in the halls. As the sound made it's way closer to the room Naruto could hear heavy breathing and yelling. A second later, two people burst through the door. They were both girls Naruto's age. One had bright pink hair that fell down to her lower back and green eyes. She had a larger than normal forehead. Her build was small and light, with white skin. She wore a pink dress with black shorts. The other girl had blonde hair in a pony tail that was around the same length as the first girl's. She had blue eyes. The girl wore a purple dress with what appeared to be medical tape underneath it. Sakura Haruno and Yamanaka Ino...they were both really loud...

"I WAS HEAR FIRST INO-PIG!" Sakura yelled at her rival. "YEAH RIGHT, I WAS FIRST BY AT LEAST A FEW INCHES!" Ino yelled back. The squabble continued for a few moments until Sakura spotted Sasuke and made a bee line for him. Naruto sighed inwardly and decided to try and be friendly with the girl. "Hello Haruno-s- move Naruto!" Sakura cut off, pushing Naruto out of his seat. Naruto sat on the floor for a moment, and then his eye started to twitch slightly.

Naruto took a deep breath and counted to ten, letting his anger dissipate before moving. Chanting his mantra of "Today's the last day, today's the last day" in his mind, he stood up. Looking around he saw Hinata. Naruto made his way over to her and gave her a smile. "Ohayo Hinata-chan, mind if I sit here?" He asked. "Ohayo N-naruto-kun. No, I don't m-mind." Hinata replied.

Naruto turned to the girl next to him and asked. "How are you today Hinata-chan? Hinata had short blue hair and white eyes. What skin you COULD see was a pale, almost ivory white. She was never seen without her bulky jacket and she usually wore a pair of shinobi pants. "I-Im' Fine Na-Naruto-kun." She replied. Naruto liked to talk to Hinata quite a bit. She was MUCH easier on the ears than girls like Sakura and Ino, and she was always kind to him. She had been one of his first friends at the academy, along with Shikamaru, Chouji, Iruka, Shino and Kiba, and Shino.

"All right class, settle down. Today is the day of the exams, im not one for procrastinating, so let's get started." Iruka said. Iruka was a kind man and the father Naruto never had. HE wore the typical chunnin outfit. But he had a distinguishing scar that ran across his nose. He walked around and passed out the papers then walked back to the front of the class. "All right class, Mizuki will be watching you while you take your test. In the mean time, I will be in the room over testing Naruto. Does anyone need anything before we begin?" Sakura raised her hand.

"Yes Sakura?" Iruka asked. "How come Naruto gets to take the test separate from everyone else!?" Sakura asked. "Because im incapable of reading." Naruto answered. A random boy started laughing. " AHAHA, Naruto's to stupid to read!" The majority of the class, the exceptions being Hinata, because of her crush, Shino...because he's Shino, his other friends and Sauske because he didn't care, broke out into laughter. Naruto simply smiled and waited for the ruckus to die down. When it did, he spoke up again. "There's a difference between being to stupid to read, and being incapable. The nerve in my eye that connects to my brain, that would normally allow me to read, is under-developed. Where I can read maybe two-three words, I cannot read full sentences or paragraphs, nor can I write them." Naruto lied. "Any OTHER questions or bright comments?" Naruto asked. Standing up, he bade good luck to Hinata and followed Iruka out of the class room

"Kinda harsh don't ya think? Iruka asked once they put some distance between themselves and the classroom. "He'll have forgotten about it by lunch." Naruto replied. "Probably" Iruka agreed. Iruka opened a door for Naruto and had him take a seat at one of the empty desks. "All right Naruto, take a seat and we'll get started...

----------------- 45 minutes later...

"Ok, we're finished here, let's go round up the others for the tai-jutsu portion of the exam." Iruka said. Naruto nodded and followed Iruka out of the room and to the classroom door. Iruka stuck his head in to find everyone finished. "Ok class, follow me, we're headed outside for the tai-jutsu portion of the exam." The students got up and filed out of the room, following Iruka out back to the throwing range where there was plenty of room. Naruto waited until Hinata walked out of the building so he could walk next to her. "All right class, we are now going to take the tai-jutsu portion of the exam. Please write your name on a piece of paper and put it in the box, we're going to do random selections." Iruka explained, holding a box and a few sheets of paper.

Looking to his left, Naruto found that Hinata hadn't wandered away from him like she usually did. "Ano...Hinata, could you do me a favor and put my name in the ballot for me?" Naruto asked. "Su-Sure N-Narut- Oi, why can't ya do it yourself Naruto?" Kiba butted in. Naruto let loose a sigh and answered. "Do you even remember what I said an hour ago?" Naruto asked. "What did you say an hour ago?" Kiba asked, looking confused. "...And you called ME stupid..." Naruto dead panned. Kiba seethed at this.

"Ano...I filled o-out y-your paper N-naruto-kun." Hinata chimed in. Naruto turned to her and gave her a wolfish smile. "Thanks Hinata-chan. Naruto said. Naruto could almost feel the heat of Hinata's blush radiating off of her. And he could also smell..well..yeah. Naruto wasn't stupid, even if he WAS blind he could tell Hinata liked him. He liked her too, but he'd never asked her out on a date or anything because of the villagers and even some Ninja. He also didn't really like getting to close to anyone, with the exception of Iruka and the third Hokage. It was like they say, once bitten, twice shy. Naruto had opened up and let to many people in just for them to stomp on his feelings later. He liked Hinata, and his other friends, but he wasn't willing to open up to them.

The exam began with Chouji and some other kid Naruto didn't know fighting. Chouji ended up winning when he threw his considerable bulk into a rather powerful punch. Another note-worthy match was Shikamaru's. He just lazily dodged every which way until his opponent ran out of steam, giving Shikamaru the chance to walk up to the guy and chop his neck, knocking him unconscious. Shino's fight would have been interesting to watch...if he hadn't gotten a girl who forfeited as soon as possible. Hinata ended up fighting Sakura and practically tore her apart, she seemed almost angry with the girl for some reason...

Finally, Naruto heard his name called. "Uzumaki Naruto vs. Uchia Sasuke." Naruto groaned. "What's a matter Naruto, scared? Kiba called. "Of Sasuke, no, of his fan girls, terrified." Naruto answered. Kiba had to agree, you didn't fight JUST Uchia Sasuke, you fought him and a rabid group of girls if you so much as touched him. The two walked into the center of the ring and took up stances. Sasuke's fan club cheering wildly for him, and Naruto wishing he didn't have sensitive hearing...Until he just barely heard Hinata cheer him on, along with Kiba, chouji, and a half-hearted shikamaru. Naruto thought he MIGHT have even heard a 'KICK HIS ASS!" From shino, but when he looked said stoic boy was looking off into the distance, seemingly non-chalant.

"Ok, this is a tai-jutsu match, you may each use a single kunai if you wish, but if I think things are getting out of hand, I'll stop the match." Iruka said. Iruka threw the kunai part in for the tradition of just holding one to the other's throat and saying "You loose",like all the other matches. He wasn't expecting both the boys to bring there kunai out from the very beginning and start a knife fight. 'I shouldn't have said that...' Iruka thought to himself

Naruto and Sasuke ripped a kunai out of there holders simultaneously. They circled each other for a moment before Sasuke charged in. Sasuke brought the knife in to stab naruto in the side, but Naruto tossed his kunai into his other hand and grabbed Sasuke's wrist before he could make contact. Naruto grabbed his own kunai and tried to get sasuke in the side as well. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist and the two were dead-locked, fighting for power in the situation.

Before Sasuke could react, Naruto pulled him forward and smashed his for head into his. Sasuke, disoriented slightly, loosened his grip long enough for naruto to wrench his hand away and bring up his foot, brutally kicking Sasuke in the side and knocking him back a few steps. Naruto pushed his advantage and followed after putting his kunai in his mouth, He sent a barrage of punches and kicks that the uchia could barely follow. Naruto faked a left jab and brought his right hand up in a vicious uppercut, knocking sasuke off his feet. Sasuke got back up and charged in again. This time he did a bushin jutsu, creating two of himself.

"Shit!" Naruto swore. Iruka tried to call off the match but sasuke had already closed the distance by half. 'Well, let's narrow the odds...' Naruto thought to himself. Naruto took his kunai and threw it at the far left bushin, the kunai harmlessly passed through it. 'Ok, so he's either the middle one or the far right one...' Naruto thought. He prepared to block the far right sasuke, that way if it was the middle sasuke that was real, he'd have to move the kunai across his body before he could stab naruto, and give him enough time to pull off his move. If the far right one was Sasuke...then what he was about to do was gonna hurt like a bitch. Naruto sprinted towards both sauske's head on. The distance closed quickly. 10 meters. 5 meters. 2 meters. Right as naruto was on top of them, he threw up both his arms at neck level. The Sasuke on his left had been moving to try and stab Naruto, but the split second difference of having to have reached across his body with his left hand was all the time Naruto needed to deal him a vicious clothesline.

Sasuke flipped once in mid-air before hitting the ground like a sack of potato's, knocked unconscious from all the breath being forcefully pushed out of his body. There was a moment of silence before a loud "WHOOP!" Ripped through the air, followed shortly after by applause and whistles from the boys with glowers and death threats from the girls. "HELL YEAH! KNOCK THAT ARROGANT BASTARD DOWN A PEG OR TWO!" Kiba roared. Only to be seconds later enveloped by a wave of angry kunochi's. Shino gave a silent nod of approval while chouji and Shikamaru were sporting some wide grins. Hinata had a shy smile on her face as Naruto came back over to his group of friends. "Way to go Naruto." Chouji praised. "You realize that Sasuke could have been on the right and not in the middle right Naruto?" Shikamaru asked. "Yeah, I had to take a risk on that." Naruto said, grinning sheepishly. "Troublesome..."Shikamaru replied.

After Sasuke was revived, The matches continued until everyone had fought. "Good work everyone." Iruka said loudly, his voice carrying over the students and getting their attention. "It's now time for the final portion of the exam, let's head back inside." The class started to shuffle back into the building. As they walked in Sasuke sent Naruto a murderous glare, though Naruto seemed oblivious to it as he talked and laughed with his friends. Once they arrived back at class, Naruto re-assumed his position next too Hinata and Iruka told the class about what was going to happen next. "All right class, here's what we're going to do. Your each going to go into the adjacent room where Mizuki and I are going to grade your final performance. You will perform the Kawarmi, Bushin, and Henge jutsu's. First up, Akimichi Chouji..."

As time went on, More and more people's names were called to go in and take the test. After a little while Naruto could no longer take the bordem and fell asleep, slouching in his chair. A few in the class noticed this, namely Hinata, who was next to Naruto at the time, Sakura and Ino. Sakura and Ino didn't really LIKE Naruto or consider him dating material...But they had always been curious about the glasses. What could he possibly have to hide under them...

"Hey, for-head girl." Ino whispered, getting her friends attention. "What Ino-pig?" Sakura asked, curious despite there rivalry. Ino pointed at Naruto and said. "Once Hinata goes in to take the exam, why don't we see what's under Naruto's glasses?" Ino asked. Sakura thought for a moment. She knew if she was Naruto, she wouldn't want her personal space intruded upon... but this was just Naruto, he was probably just wearing the glasses to show off or be cool. She told her self. She ignored the voice in the back of her head telling her that if that what she was thinking about doing was wrong and so on. Her inner Sakura violently crushed the voice, silencing it for the time being. Sakura nodded and the two sat and waited.

A few minutes later, Sakura was called into the exam. She came back out sporting her new headband and went over to Ino to continue waiting. "Hyuuga Hinata!" Iruka's voice called out. Hinata "eeped" slightly and stood up hurriedly, then walking into the room. As soon as the door closed Sakura and Ino were up and moving towards Naruto, being as stealthy as possible. It wasn't difficult to navigate there way to him, few students were left in the room, and those who were didn't care about what they were doing.

The two got about ten feet away from Naruto and slowed, making sure they didnt step on any loose floorboards or bump into any chairs. Five feet away, there hearts were beating slightly faster as they got closer, starting to get nervous about being caught. Now they were within reaching distance of Naruto's face. Sakura looked at Ino and they both nodded. Ino started to slowly reach out for Naruto's glasses. Her palms were starting to sweat and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears, a heavy silence had seemed to settle over the room. Just as she was about to grab the glasses a hand fell on her and Sakura's shoulders. They both jumped and turned to see Shino Aburame. "Respect. The glasses." He said in his usual monotone voice, though, if one listened closely it seemed like he might have had an annoyed tone in his voice. The two girls nodded vigorously, to creeped out to do anything else. He then steered the two away from Naruto and shoved them out the classroom door.

Hinata came back from the room and sat next to Naruto again, wearing a new headband around her neck. She seemed to be sitting a little straighter than normal. "Uchia Sasuke!" Mizuki called. The dark haired boy stood up and made his way into the room. Sense the teachers appeared to be going by alphabetical order, Hinata saw fit to wake Naruto up before his name was called...that and she wanted him to see her new headband.

"Ano...Na-naruto-kun, wake up, y-your up next." Hinata said, shaking Naruto a few times. After she realized she was touching him she blushed and her hand shot back like she'd been burned. A sleepy "Five more minutes." was his reply. Producing a slight sweat drop, she decided to try again. "Nar-naruto-kun, it's time to get up." Hinata said again. "Five mo finutes..." Naruto said again. Hinata sighed to herself. "What do I have to do to get you up Naruto-kun? She asked to no one in particular. "Put alarm clock next to my ear." He replied, surprising her.

Hinata frowned slightly, was he playing a trick on her? No, Naruto wasn't the type to joke in a serious situation, like the gennin exam... Was he possibly talking in his sleep? Hinata wandered to herself. 'Worth a shot' she thought. "N-naruto-kun, are you asleep? Hinata asked. Naruto nodded his head. Thinking for a moment, Hinata came up with another question. "Naruto-kun, do you use a gen-jutsu to hide something?" Hinata asked. Again, he nodded. 'Naruto-kun would never admit to that...he must really be asleep and answering questions! Hinata thought excitedly.

"I-is there a girl you like?" Hinata stuttered slightly. Yea... NAruto replied. Hinata felt her heart beat a little faster. "Does she live in Konoha?" Hinata asked. Naruto nodded. Hinata's heart picked up a little more speed, and she started to get that nervous feeling in her chest. "Does she go to the academy?" Hinata asked. Mhmm. Naruto hummed Unconsciously she had to wonder how his glasses stayed on when he did that. She filed it away for a time when she didn't feel like she was going to have an anxiety attack. Hinata fell quiet for a moment as She tried to think of another question. She KNEW the question she WANTED to ask, but she couldn't get the courage to just blurt it out, so she was trying to narrow it down. And then a thought hit her. 'Most of the girls in the school have grown there hair out for the Uchia...

"Does she have long hair?" Naruto shook his head this time, and Hinata could feel her chest clench. Her hands started to shake and she felt faint, her heart was racing now. As she was about to ask another question the door slid open and Sasuke walked out of the classroom, not even glancing up on his way out, but hinata didn't notice, her attention was focused on Naruto. Iruka came out behind him and breathed in deep, preparing to yell at Naruto for sleeping.

"NA-thump!" Iruka was cutoff as a kunai imbedded itself in the wood next to his head that had a note attached saying "QUIET." Iruka traced the trajectory back to Shino, who held his finger to his mouth in the "shhh" position and pointed at Naruto and Hinata. Iruka raised an eyebrow at Shino and nodded, turning his attention to the sleeping boy and tomato faced girl. "Do you know who is talking to you?" Hinata asked. Naruto nodded his head. Hinata held he breath and took the plunge. "Is it me? She asked. "The boy nodded his head up and down again and that was all Hinata could take. Her head lit up like a volcano, from color to heat and she was floored in a dead faint. Iruka let loose a chuckle at that. "NARUTO! WAKE UP!" He yelled. Naruto jumped up out of his seat spinning around wildly. Finally, his focus landed on Iruka and he calmed down. He also noticed Hinata on the floor.

"What happened to Hinata Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked, still trying to wake up. Iruka grinned and said. "Nothing Naruto, but come on, you're the last one to take the exam." Naruto nodded to him and said. "Be there in'a sec." Iruka nodded and walked back into the exam room. Naruto picked Hinata up and sat her down on a chair, then followed after Iruka. After Naruto stepped into the room and shut the door Iruka gave him his first test. Ok Naruto, give us a kawarmi. Iruka asked. Naruto nodded and brought his hands together making the ram sign. There was a puff of smoke and he replaced himself with a potted plant in the room. Iruka nodded in approval and wrote something down on a clip board. "Next up, henge." Iruka said. Naruto brought his hands together and transformed into a perfect Iruka. Iruka nodded again and wrote his score down. "And last up, bushin." Once again, Naruto made the Ram sign and gathered his Chakra. There was a huge puff of smoke and the room was filled with bushin. "Uhh...Naruto...we only needed three." Iruka said, slightly in awe. Naruto smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry Iruka sensei, case of nerves." Naruto said. Iruka smiled and accepted the excuse. "Well, congratulations Naruto, you pass, can you stay after class for a minute or two?" Iruka asked. "Sure." Naruto replied.

Mizuki left the class room, leaving behind Iruka, Naruto, and a unconscious Hinata. "What is it you were wanting Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked. "Well, I know you don't have any family to celebrate passing with, so I'm offering to treat you to Ramen to celebrate." Iruka answered. Naruto's face cracked into a wolfish Grin as he tackled Iruka in a hug. "And here, this is yours." Iruka said, taking his headband off and giving it to Naruto. Naruto smiled and took off his glasses. Iruka had seen the scar before, and was glad he didn't see it now. He had to know about Naruto being blind in order to teach him, but he had never gotten used to that scar. Whenever he saw the scar it made him cringe something awful. Naruto took the Headband and placed it over his eyes, tying it tight like a blindfold. Iruka smirked slightly. "Interesting style there Naruto. Naruto laughed a bit and then remembered Hinata.

"What are we going to do with Hinata?" Naruto asked. "Hmm...well we could wake her up and invite her along." Iruka suggested. Naruto frowned slightly. He'd love to have someone to celebrate with, Hinata in particular...but he was slightly afraid of the consequences. Shrugging it off, naruto decided he'd cross that bridge when he got to it. "Sure." Naruto replied. Walking over to Hinata, he tried to gently shake her awake. "Hinata, hey, wake up." Naruto said. Hinata slowly woke up slowly. Looking around, Hinata saw Naruto and Iruka. "Hey, congratulations on becoming a gennin, Iruka and I are going for Ramen to celebrate, wanna come along?" Naruto asked. Hinata sat there and blinked a couple of times, not really awake yet. Then she realized she'd been asked a question. "S-sure Naruto-kun." Hinata replied. "Well come on, let's go!" Naruto said, grabbing her hand and all but dragging her out the door, Iruka close at there heels.

As the trio made there way into town, Hinata's brain slowly started working again, taking things in small steps. The first thing that came through was. 'Naruto-kun likes me!' Shortly after that came the thought of 'And he noticed the headband!' then her thoughts started to catch up with the here and now her. 'Naruto-kun invited me out to celebrate with him and Iruka, could it be considered an...unorthodox date!' Now she was slightly ecstatic. 'And to top it all off...HE'S HOLDING MY HAND! This is the best day of my life.' Hinata thought. Blushing somewhat, she looked up at Naruto and noticed something was different. 'Hey, he's not wearing his glasses...He's using his headband as a blindfold? How can he see where he's going?' Hinata wandered as Naruto wove there way through the busy street.

'What's with all the glares?' Hinata thought. At first she thought they were directed at her which caused her to shrink under there gaze somewhat. Then she noticed that they were actually glaring at Naruto, though he didn't seem to notice (aside from the fact that he's blindfolded). "N-naruto-kun, why is e-everyone glaring at you?" Hinata asked. Naruto's face fell for a moment, and it seemed like he was thinking.

'What should I tell her?' Damn, I knew we should have taken the roofs instead of the street.' Naruto thought to himself. 'Well, I don't want to tell her about Kyyubi... not to mention she's probably curious about the blindfold. And if she's ever used the byakugan on me before, she'll be curious about the gen-jutsu too. I know Hinata's smart, she may very well be able to put this together herself even if I didn't tell her.' "I Don't wanna talk about it." Naruto muttered. Understanding she'd hit a touchy subject, Hinata let it drop for the time being, plus they were now at the Ramen stand. "Hey old man! One beef Ramen to start off with!" Naruto yelled, catching the chefs attention.

The chef looked to be in about his mid-forties, maybe his fifties. Though he looked like he was in good shape, perhaps an ex-ninja. He always squinted though, as if he was trying to see something while looking in the direction of the sun, his name was Teuchi. "Naruto! how ya doing boy? The chef asked. "Great, I finally got Gennin today! Naruto exclaimed. Oh, congratulations, this first bowl is on the house. The chef said. "This your girlfriend?" He teased, spotting Hinata. Said girl let out a small "Eep!" and started blushing. "This is Hinata-chan, and no, she isn't my girlfriend." Naruto said, introducing them to each other. Hinata seemed to be a bit disappointed though... Hello Naruto-kun!" said a girl. She had brown hair that went down to her shoulders and slightly brownish skin. She was older than Naruto and had a medium build with noticeable assets.

"Hey Ayame-Chan!" Naruto greeted. "Who is your friend Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked, eyeing Hinata carefully. "This is Hinata-chan." Naruto said, oblivious to the small staring match that had initiated. "Hinata-chan, this is Ayame-chan. Naruto introduced. "A pleasure to meet you." Ayame said, holding her hand out. Though she was thinking: "_If you think your taking __**MY**__ Naruto-kun away from me you got another thing coming'_. "Likewise." Hinata said firmly, though she was thinking more along the lines of: '_Your not getting Naruto-kun unless it's over my dead body'_. They took each others hands and started to squeeze harder than necessary.

Iruka had only been observing to this point and decided to start instigating, one of his favorite past times. And...it COULD also be payback for all the pranks Naruto had played on him. So, Iruka decided to play an ultimate prank on him, multiple girlfriends. "It's good to see you two get along so well, I'm sure your going to be seeing more of each other with Naruto dragging Hinata here every other day". Iruka said, getting a blush from Hinata and a crest-fallen look from Ayame. Teuchi, catching on to the game said. "Oh yes, this is Naruto's favorite place to be, him and Ayame are quite close." Now it was Hinata's turn to look crest-fallen and Ayame's turn to smile triumphantly. Teuchi set Naruto's order down in front of him and the gennin tore into it, oblivious to his surroundings.

'Time to go for the kill...' Iruka thought grinning like the chess shire cat. I wonder who will get the first date?" Iruka said. That was the last straw. " Hinata and ayame started to stare each other down, sizing each other up. 'Hook, line, and sinker.' Iruka thought, happily slurping away at his ramen. Teuchi however, decided to give one last poke. "Who knows, maybe he'll take both of them out." Teuchi said, wearing a grin to match Iruka's. Two light bulbs went off above the girls heads. "Share?" Ayame asked, giving a questionable look. Thinking to herself for a moment, Hinata weighed the pros and cons. 'Bad side...I have to share, that's really all there is...good side, I have an ally, one less enemy, someone who could help me setup a date with Naruto...' Hinata thought to herself. She came to a conclusion, smirking, Hinata nodded to and shook again, in a more...friendlier matter this time.

At this point in time, Naruto's wolf instincts kicked in, telling him he was in danger. Had he been able to see, he would have found Iruka and the old man looking like the cat who just swallowed the canary. Along with Ayame and Hinata who were looking at him with that dangerous glint in there eyes. Swallowing the noodles he had in his mouth, he said. "Did I miss something?" "Oh, nothing important Naruto-kun." Ayame said, grinning mischievously. Naruto's "GET THE HELL OUTA THERE!" sense was tingling, and it'd never been wrong before. But what could it be, he knew all the people there, and they were friendly, he trusted all of them... kinda. So, going against his better judgement he said. "Oh, ok!" And set back to work on his ramen.

'_Poor bastard._' Iruka thought, slurping up the rest of his noodles. He almost felt sorry for him. Almost. This was Iruka's revenge for all those pranks_. 'Heh, step 1: Start the chain, complete.' _Iruka thought to himself. After the initial setup of Iruka's payback, The trio stayed for quite a bit. Hinata and Ayame talking amongst themselves, shooting conspiratorial glances at Naruto here and there, while Naruto, Iruka and Teuchi talked about gennin teams, old war/prank stories and the like. Now it was starting to get late and it was time for Naruto to head home.

"Well everyone, im having a blast and all, but it's getting late, Hinata and I have team assignments tomorrow." Naruto said "Oh, I completely forgot." Hinata said, standing up to leave. "Hey, you didn't stutter!" Naruto praised, giving her a smile. "I didn't? What ya' know?" Hinata said, smiling back. "Come on Hinata, I'll walk you back, since it was partly my fault your out late." Naruto said, walking out the curtain. Hinata nodded and bade goodbye to her new friend Ayame, Iruka, and Teuchi. Iruka left the opposite way to go back to his house leaving Hinata and Naruto alone. The two started walking.

The streets weren't nearly empty now that it was later in the day. The sun setting and casting a redish hue over the sky. The two neared the Hyyuga estate's gate and said they're goodbyes. Walking away back towards his apartment, Naruto heard a scuffle. Making his way silently over to the scene Naruto found Mizuki fighting a jounin. The jounin seemed to be out of her element some what, as if she usually didn't fight hand-to hand. Mizuki had the upper hand in the fight since the jounin was trying to subdue him, yet not harm the scroll strapped to his back in the process. Naruto brought his hands together in the ram sign and focused. "Kawarmi no Jutsu." He muttered. There was a poof of smoke and Naruto had replaced himself with the scroll, surprising the two. Before Mizuki could act Naruto put his arms under Mizuki's and brought his hands up to mesh around the back of his neck, effectivly holding the chunnin from moving.

"Hey! I got him, now hurry up and finish him off before he get's loose." Naruto yelled, straining against Mizuki. The jounin nodded and pulled out a Kunai. Walking up to Mizuki calmly the jounin slit his throat, killing him instantly. The jounin was a woman who looked to be in her twenties somewhere, ir was hard to tell, she dressed like she was a younger, rebellious individual, wearing a outfit that looked to be made of medical tape. Yet she seemed older from the way she carried herself. She had black hair and red eyes, with a shapely body that showed through the tape.

"Thanks for the help... "Uzumaki Naruto". Naruto supplied, grinning slightly. The woman smiled back, recognizing him as the kyyubi container, he didn't seem that bad. "Thanks for the help Naruto-San, normally I wouldn't need it, but I couldn't risk putting him in a gen-jutsu and him flailing around and possibly harming the scroll." The woman said, frowning slightly. Anytime...""Yuhri Kurenai." Kurenai said. "Anytime Kurenai-San" Naruto replied. "Well, I gotta run, need to get some sleep before they pick teams tomorrow, tell Jiji I said hi." Naruto said as he walked away._'Hmm...weird kid, but nice. I wonder what was with the gen-jutsu he was using?' _Kurenai wondered, strapping the scroll to her back and heading back to the tower. An ANBU team would come by sometime later to dispose of the body.

Naruto made it back to his apartment and unlocked the door. Stepping inside, he stopped and listened for a full ten minutes before moving again. He didn't want any "Surprises." Shutting his door and locking it, Naruto released his gen-jutsu and took a shower. Stepping out he put on his pajama's and slipped into bed, asleep nearly as soon as his head hit the pillow.


	2. team 7

Hello all, bit of a boring chapter here, but necessary, Enjoy!

Naruto found himself in the middle of a pine forest. There was snow on the ground, and hanging from the boughs of the great trees. It was dark and a full moon shone over the forest, reflecting off the snow bathing the ground in a soothing white light. The light reflecting off the snow in the trees make it seem as though they had been decorated with white garland. Several different tracks littered the ground, ranging from the small prints of squirrels and chipmunks to the bigger prints of deer and caribou. A cool breeze flittered past, pulling some of the powdery snow up in the air, seemingly as if ghostly white spirits were dancing in the woods...Then the scene changed.

Naruto watched the silver haired man again, rushing into fights with his massive club. He used the weapon to great affect, snapping arms and legs, easily crushing some of his smaller opponents whole. Of the people fighting, Naruto could make out three factions. One, was the one the silver haired man was fighting for. Naruto could tell they were on the same side because many of them had wolf ears and tails. Another faction were various towns people, who seemed to be fighting alongside the half-wolves. Nothing defining about them, just your average villagers. Then there was the opposing faction. Naruto cringed somewhat. There defining trait was that they all had some weird..._thing _on there backs. The things, looked insectile, only much bigger, roughly the size of a travel pack, with black skin, and weird mouths on what appeared to be there backs. Looking closer, Naruto found that the...things, had some sort of tentacles that had pierced the peoples skin. It looked like the tentacles traveled all the way down the back, parallel with the spinal cord. Aside from the things on there backs, these people looked almost normal, like normal humans. But they were ridiculously strong, flinging people away from them like rag dolls. However it didn't seem as though they were very good at actual fighting.

Then there were the things that looked like half-transformed people. They varied in all forms, shapes, sizes, textures, and so forth. Some had half-formed horns growing out of various places on there bodies. Bright red sores surrounding the bases of them. Some had extra limbs, others seemed to be covered in a layer of mucus. Basically, creatures from your nightmares. They all had two things in common. They had those things on there backs, like the most human of them, and they all had a strange symbol on there body at one point or another. It resembled the spade on a playing card with a triangle in the center. It was a sickly yellow looking color.

Then there were the worst of what was there. Monsters was probably the only word that could remotely describe them. Some were human_oid_, others seemed like creatures out of a horror story. None of them had any human characteristics what so ever. They varied in size, big, small, fast, strong. The were ALL deadly. Sharp, ripping fangs, strong, piercing claws. Thick, muscled appendages. Some had sword like arms while others seemed to have stopped halfway into changing into some sort of animal. All had a haunting, souless gaze that stared into your very soul. The one thing they all had in common, was the now bright yellow spade mark somewhere on there bodies...

..Ep...

...Bee...

...BEEP...

...BEE-click...

Sitting up, Naruto shook his head, waking up. "Another dream..?" Naruto asked himself. Getting up out of bed, he set about his morning rituals. His mind straying back to the dream here and there. He cringed at the thought of those monster...things. "Man, I'd hate to have to fight one of those..." Naruto muttered to himself as he finished dressing himself. Putting on his concealment jutsu, Naruto headed out the door and towards the academy to meet his Jounin sensei and team.

Walking into the class room, Naruto found a seat in the back, in between his friends Shikamaru and chouji . Naruto caught Hinata waving at him and he waved back. "Good morning Shikamaru, chouji. Naruto greeted, sitting down. "Morning Naruto." Chouji said. Shikamaru gave a lazy "Mmf" Of acknowledgment from his arms. Once everyone was in the class Iruka stood up. "Good morning class, Today's the last day I see any of you, so let me just say that it's been a pleasure getting to know you all over the years and I hope you all become fine Ninja." Iruka said. "Ok class, team assignments are..."

"Team seven...Uzumaki Naruto..."Naruto's ears perked up, hoping one of his friends would be on his team. "Haruno Sakura.." There was a loud groan as Sakura hit her head on the table. 'I got stuck with Naruto!' She thought. "Uchia Sasuke..." Iruka finished. There was a loud squeal of delight, two depressed groans, and a angry outburst. The squeal came from none other than Sakura, who was ecstatic about having Sasuke on her team. The Out burst came From Yamanak Ino, Saying how "Unfair" that was. One groan and a loud "Bang!" Came from Naruto as he slammed his head against the table. "Sasuke AND his number 1# fan girl?...It's official...Kami hates me." Naruto muttered. "Ahh, don't feel bad Naruto, look at the good side." Chouji said optimistically. "Good side?" Naruto questioned. "Yeah." Shikamaru cut in. "Just let Sasuke get hurt once and Sakura will fight your battles for you." They got a small round of chuckles out of this. The last, though not quite as audible groan, came from Hinata. 'I was hoping to be on Naruto-kun's team...' Hinata thought.

"Team Eight: Kiba Inuzuka, Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata! Iruka called. 'No objections there. ' Kiba thought to himself. "..." Were Shino's thoughts. ' At least I'm with people I know.' Hinata thought. "Team Ten: Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino!" Chouji grinned since he was on the same team as his best friend, as did Shikamaru to a point. Both of these grins flew off there faces traded for scowls of pain as Ino shrieked. "I'm stuck on a team with a fat ass and a lazy ass!?" Iruka ignored her and went on to say. "These assignments are permanent unless you want to quit, or if you die." There were a few audible gulps here, but Iruka continued. "Well, that's all for me, stay here until your Jounin sensei comes to pick you up." Iruka said, walking out of the room.

The class was buzzing slightly with conversations as new teams got to know each other or friends talked about how they wished they'd gotten on each other's teams. Naruto had decided to go and talk to Team eight since Ino was currently trying to get... "acquainted" With Shikamaru and Chouji. "Hey! Stop eating and talk to me! And would you actually sit up and pay attention while im talking!" Ino bickered. It seemed like a rather one sided conversation. Walking over to Kiba, Shino and Hinata, Naruto sat down. "Boy Naruto...you got boned with teams didn't you?" Kiba asked. Hinata blushed from embarrassment at his choice of words while Shino smacked him upside the head. "Yeah, that's one way of putting it." Naruto said. "So, any ideas on who your sensei is?" Naruto asked. As if on Que, The door slid open and a woman called out. "Team eight?"

Turning around with the others, Naruto found Kurenai standing in the door way. "Hello Kurenai-san. Naruto said, giving a wolfish grin. Kurenai blinked once and saw Naruto, she smiled slightly and greeted him back. "Hello Naruto, are you part of team eight?" Kurenai asked. "Nah, wish I was though. Naruto said, muttering the last part under his breath. "Team eight is Hinata-chan, Kiba, and Shino here." Naruto said, pointing his friends out individually. "Hello, Im Yuhri Kurenai, your Jounin Sensei, Kurenai said. "Ano...How do you know Kurenai-sensei Naruo-kun? Hinata asked, almost sounding afraid. _' I know he said he likes me...kinda, but what if he's into older women!?'_ Befor Hinata's thoughts could get any further, kurenail spoke up " Oh, Naruto helped me apprehend Mizuki yesterday." Kurenai answered. "Mizuki-sensei? What'd he do?" Kiba asked. "He stole the scroll of sealing from the Hokage tower."Kurenai explained. "And Naruto helped apprehend him?" Shino asked, slightly raising an eyebrow. "I didn't do much, I just held him in place while Kurenai-san finished him off." Naruto said. _'I don't think Naruto understands the fact that a gennin shouldn't be physically capable of restraining a chunnin level ninja...unless your gai's student.' _Kurenai thought to herself, unconciously flinching upon seeing the bright green jumpsuit in her mind's eye. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but we have to get going team." Kurenai said. "Later guys!" Naruto called out after them.

Nothing interesting really happened after Kurenai came and went. Team ten was collected by a chain smoker who, Naruto found was related to the Hokage, Sautobi Asuma. Finally, team seven was the last team in the room. Getting bored, Naruto decided he'd do some exercises. Stretching out a bit first, he got on his hand's and feet and started to do push-ups. Sasuke noticed and came over, Sakura following after. "What are you doing Dobe?" Sasuke asked. "...I have a name you know..." Naruto replied, continuing his pushups as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Answer Sasuke's question Naruto!" Sakura shouted. Naruto decided to ignore them untill Sasuke could part with some of his pride. Letting loose a sigh, Sasuke asked. "What are you doing...Naruto?" Grinning slightly at his personal victory, naruto spoke. "Well, I got tired of waiting on our sensei, so I decided I could train to pass the time." Naruto explained, switching from push-ups to sit-ups. "Wanna join?" Naruto asked. "Hn." Sasuke replied, sitting down and beginning sit-ups himself. Sakura stood there for a moment, looking slightly lost. "Sakura, if you want to join us you don't have to wait for an invitation. "Naruto said. Sakura seemed to ease a bit and stretched before beginning to do sit-ups herself.

And so it continued like that for the next two hours. Naruto would lead them through one exercise until they got tired, and then switch to a different one. As two hours came to an end Sakura was panting loudly as she laid on her back, staring at the ceiling. Sasuke was sweating and breathing quickly himself. Naruto had a light sweat worked up and didn't seem likely to be winded anytime soon. "Jeeze Naruto(pant) how are(pant) you still going?" Sakura asked. "I train a lot." Naruto answered simply. Switching back to push-ups. "Stamina freak..." She muttered, getting back to push-ups herself. Unnoticed to them,(well, most of them, Kinda hard for Naruto not to notice with his chakra sense) a man walked into the room. He had tall, silver hair. Most of his face was covered with a mask and a his headband, but one eye was visible. He wore the standard jounin attire. He spotted the trio working out and decided to stand and watch for a bit. After a few minutes, the silver haired one spoke up.

Ya know sensei, If ya wanna join, you don't have to wait for an invite." Naruto said as he continued to pump out push-ups. Sakura lost balance in the middle of a push-up and fell to the floor while sasuke's head whipped over to look at there sensei. "Ahh, no thank you." The man said, studying them for a minute. "Which one of you lead this little exercise group?" the man asked. Naruto said "I did." while Sasuke and Sakura pointed at him. "I see...my first impression of you guys is...your interesting...meet on the roof in two minutes." The man said before disappearing in a poof of smoke. Team seven made there way out of the class room and up to the roof where there sensei was leaning against the railing.

"Ok, Since we're a team from now on, were gonna introduce ourselves to each other." The man explained. "Ladies first." The man said, pointing at Sakura. Sakura looked unsure and asked. "Why don't you go first and show us how it's done sensei? "Me?" the man asked. Shrugging, he said. "Well, let's see...My name is Hatake Kakashi, I like a lot of things, I don't dislike much...I have hobbies, and my dreams are none of your business." Kakashi said. _'All we learned was his name.' _was the simultaneous thought of team seven.

"Ok, your turn pinky." Kakashi said. "My name is Haruno _Sakura _.."She said, emphasizing her name. "My likes are." She turned to Sasuke and blushed. "My hobbies are" She looked at Sasuke again and blushed more. "My dreams are." She looked over at Sasuke and squealed slightly. "I hate Ino-pig!" _'Ooook.'_ Naruto thought._ '...annoying.'_ Sasuke thought. _'...ok then.'_ Kakashi thought. "Oh, Kakashi-sensei, are you and Naruto related somehow? With the silver hair and hiding your face thing? She asked, causing the two mentioned to sweat drop. "Just a coincidence, I assure you." Kakashi said, turning his attention to Sasuke. "You with the attitude." Kakashi said, pointing at Sasuke. "...My name is Uchia Sasuke, I don't like much and I have many dislikes, my hobbies are training." Sasuke said, pausing for a moment. "My dream, is more of an ambition...to restore my clan, and kill a certain man." He declared. Naruto rolled his eyes under his blind fold at that. _'So cool.'_ Sakura thought._ 'So far I have a lovesick girl and an attitude problem on my team...well, like they say, third's the charm.'_ Kakashi thought as he motioned for Naruto to go. Clearing his throat, Naruto began.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, My motto Is "Better to be bluntly honest than deceivingly kind" I like my friends, ramen, training, and dreaming. I hate almost everything and anything that has to do with this village." Naruto said, surprising Sakura and Sasuke. _'Hate? But he usually seems a lot more mellow then that.' _Sakura thought._ 'Hmm...'_ Was sasuke's thought. _'Not a big surprise there...'_ Kakashi mused. "My hobbies are training, gardening, and working on a few things that you guys aren't hearing about yet because I honestly don't trust you." Everyone sweat dropped at this. "And as for my dream, one of them at least...is to one day, be at peace." Naruto said. _'Well...that was weird..'_Kakashi thought. Sakura was a bit more verbal with her thoughts. "What does that mean Naruto?" Sakura asked. " Hmm, no offense Sakura, but I'd like to get to know you better before we delve any further into my personal life." Naruto replied. Nodding in understanding, Sakura let it drop.

"Well, now that we all know each other, let's cut to the chase." Kakashi said, pulling out a few slips of paper. "Meet at the designated time and area tomorrow for survival training, don't be late." Kakashi said, handing hem the papers. "Oh, and don't eat breakfast." Kakashi said. "Why not sensei?" Sakura asked. "You'll throw up." Kakashi replied before poofing away. "Sasuke turned and started towards the door that led back to the stairway when Sakura asked him for a date. "No." Sasuke answered, leaving the roof. Sakura turned back to find Naruto was leaning over the railing, letting the wind hit his face, his hair flowing on the breeze. Curious, Sakura went over to Naruto, determined to get a few answers out of him.

"Naruto...Did you mean what you said? About hating the village?" She asked. Sakura saw his shoulders slump slightly, and he let out a sigh. It was obvious he didn't like to talk about it. "I meant every word." Naruto answered. "Why?" Sakura asked. "I'm sorry Sakura, I don't trust you enough to tell you yet." Naruto answered. "And why don't you trust any one?" Sakura asked. "...once bitten, twice shy." Naruto answered before hopping off the roof and walking for home. Sakura stood there for a minute, trying to understand what he meant. After a few minutes, she finally sighed in resignation and left for home.

- - - - - - - - - Training ground seven, 7:00 Am

Team 7 found themselves waiting for a tardy jounin at seven in the morning. Neither Sakura or Sasuke seemed to be morning people as they sat on the ground, half-asleep. Naruto on the other hand, was used to being up at pretty much any hour of the day. The last time he'd actually slept through a whole night was...well... _'Have I ever slept a full night?'_ Naruto asked himself, chuckling mirthlessly at his own odd humor. With his spare time, he decided to get to know his teammates...kinda.

Naruto studied the two, who, really didn't notice due to them being half-asleep. He couldn't use his Chakra sense well enough to truly glean any knowledge about the two aside from the fact that they were there and roughly the size of a 12 year old boy and girl respectively. Instead, Naruto focused on his other senses. Taking a quick whiff of the air. The first thing that naruto smelled was the surrounding woods. From the trees, to the animals, even the ground had it's own distinctive scent. Pushing those smells to the back of his mind for the time being, he tried to search for the smells coming from his team. Sakura, who was sitting on Naruto's left side, smelled like some sort of cherry. _'Probably some sort of shampoo.'_ Naruto thought. Taking another whiff, Naruto caught Sasuke's scent which turned out to be... _'Tomato...weird.'_ Naruto thought. Committing the scents to memory.

As the day progressed, Naruto sat still and silent, studying his two team mates and learning about them...over all...there wasn't much to learn. It seemed as though what you saw was what you got. Sasuke was cold and near emotionless, unless he got angry about something, he seemed easily goaded. Sakura was, in Naruto's opinion, a perfect example of the word shallow, after listening to her advances being rejected by Sasuke nine times. How ever, he did notice that Sakura would do anything what so ever for Sasuke, and was terrified of upsetting him, so agreed with anything and everything he said. Naruto decided to tune them out and focus on training his senses. His fight with Sasuke made him realize that he wouldn't always have a nice, preferably silent, area in which to fight. The class around them yelling and cheering had made it impossible for Naruto to discern Sasuke's foot steps, or hear him breathing. So, what better time than the present to train?

Naruto calmed himself down, listening to the wind blow through the trees, hearing the leaves rustle and the occasional bird flying from limb to limb. Focusing more intently on his hearing, he tired to hear things that were happening further away. Some birds chirped, squirrels chattered, and a few branches groaned from the wind blowing, causing them to move. Focusing as hard as he could, Naruto heard a twig snap in the distance. He focused on it. There wasn't any noise again for a few minutes, and then a deer blew, spooked by something. Naruto could hear it running from whatever scared it. Happy with the focus he attained on his hearing, he was going to try and train it to become second nature. Getting up, Naruto walked over to a training post and started working on tai-jutsu, while trying to keep his focus on listening to his surroundings.

Sakura had not been having a good morning. First her sensei was late...going on an hour and a half now. Second, she was wishing she'd hadn't gone on that diet and skipped breakfast because she was starving now. And most importantly, she still couldn't get a date with Sasuke. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing wrong. She'd grown her hair out, stopped being friends with Ino-pig, even took the initiative and asked HIM out for dates instead of vice versa. She was beginning to get frustrated when she noticed Naruto stand up and begin pummeling a training post. He'd been so quiet she'd Honestly forgot he was there. That was another thing that was bothering her. She noticed that Naruto actually got Sasuke's attention more than she did...which made her even more frustrated. She watched as Sasuke stood up and walked over to Naruto."What are you doing, Naruto?" Sasuke asked. "...I'm trying a new method of training." Naruto replied. "What kind of training Naruto?" Sakura asked." "Hmmm...kinda hard to explain. Basically, I'm trying to train my ears." Naruto replied. "By punching a log?" Sasuke dead panned. "Mhmm." Naruto replied, un phased. Sasuke scoffed at this.

"Dobe." And he walked off. "Sakura, may I ask a slightly personal question?" Naruto asked. "Depends on the question I guess." Sakura replied. "Just out of curiosity, what do you see in that guy?" Naruto asked, truly curious. "Oh, Sasuke-kun? Well he's strong, handsome, smart, and...err..." Sakura trailed off. Now that she said it out loud...those were pretty much the only reasons she did like Sasuke... "Do you know anything about him?" Naruto asked. Sakura's mouth flew open, ready to spew hundreds of answers a second...but her brain seemed to be coming up empty besides one or two facts. "Not really...just that he survived the Uchia massacre and...I _think_ he likes girls with long hair?" Sakura said, questioning the hair bit. "So... do you think that's a strong enough basis for a relationship?" Naruto asked. "No...I guess not...but what are you getting at?" Sakura asked. "Maybe you should try to get to know him somewhat before you try yo start a relationship, you may not like what you find...then again, you may like him even more. Naruto stated. Sakura gained a thoughtful look as she walked away, conversation over._ 'Maybe Naruto is right?'_ She thought to herself. _'I mean...I really don't know anything about Sasuke...and up untill this point I only wanted a date with him because I thought he was cool...now that I think about it, those reasons seem kina shallow, if not selfish_.' She mused. She thought about it for the next half hour until she was finally brought out of her mental musings by Kakashi arriving.

"Hello team." Kakashi greeted, smiling under his mask. "Hello Kakashi-sensei." Was the somewhat, lackluster greeting he got from Sakura. She seemed to be distracted by something. _' what's with her...'_ Kakashi wondered. His other two students walked over to him, and after a nod of acknowledgment from Naruto and a death glare from Sasuke, he began to tell them what was going to happen that day. "Here's what's going to happen." Kakashi said, pulling two silver bells and an alarm clock out of his utility pouch. "Your going to have two hours to get a bell from me, using whatever tricks you deem necessary, The one who does not get a bell, gets tied to one of those posts over there and watches while I eat lunch in front of them and is sent back to the academy." Kakashi said, gauging his team's reactions.

Sasuke got a Grim, determined look on his face at the news. Sakura seemed to have the same expression, though, she also seemed slightly sickly looking. Looking at Naruto, Kakashi found his face un-readable. It was like trying to fine defining characteristics on a blank canvas. Sighing slightly, he set the clock down on a post and set it for two hours. "Remember, if you want a bell, come at me with intent to kill, otherwise you will fail." Kakashi said, pressing the button on the clock. "Let the exam begin!" The cyclops said. The three gennin leaped out of the clearing, hiding in various areas. 'Well, they're very good at hiding...I don't even know where Naruto went.' Kakashi thought to himself...

- - - - - - - - With Naruto an hour later...

Naruto was deep in the woods, probably a good mile back from Kakashi and his teammates, trying to devise a plan. It wasn't going to well. He really couldn't think of anything that they could do together or alone to get those bells. Sasuke wouldn't want to work with him, and if he didn't, neither would Sakura. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud, very un lady like yawning noise. '**Whhaaaaaaa...Good morning Naru-kun.' **Said the nine-tailed demon fox sealed in his stomach._'Good morning kyu-chan.' _Naruto replied. She'd always called him "Naru-kun" or something along those lines, so he returned the favor. He'd asked why she called him that on several different occasions, but all she'd do is give a polite little chuckle and say "You'll find out." **' What's going on anyways?" **The kyuubi asked. She slept quite a bit, usually two days straight and then she was up for a day. Not that she needed that much sleep...she just liked it that way. _'Survival training with Kakashi-sensei._ Naruto answered. **'Ah, all right, I'll leave you alone for the time being then, oh, and Naru-kun...look out behind you.' **_'Wha..?' _Was all Naruto thought before he heard a twig snap.

Naruto leapt away from the branch he'd been sitting on as Kakashi appeared, kicking where his head had been seconds ago. Naruto flipped in mid-air and landed on another branch parallel with Kakashi. "Hello Kakashi-sensei, your coming after us instead of us after you?" Naruto asked, trying to buy time to come up with a quick plan. "Well, the original idea was to have you guys come after me...but that didn't work so well." Kakashi replied, seemingly relaxed but never letting his guard down. "Really, what happened?" Naruto asked, he was curious, but he was also half-way through a plan in his head, he needed a little more time. "Well, Sasuke came out to attack me head on by himself, it wasn't a bad attempt...but he should have known better than to come at a joun in with no plan at all." Kakashi said, grinning slightly. "Sakura fell to a gen-jutsu...I really hadn't been expecting to get her with it." Kakashi continued, his usual lazy voice. "And now I came to get you, since it didn't seem like you were going to do anything." Kakashi finished. An idea suddenly struck Naruto...It was about fifty fifty, but better than nothing.

"Well, I usually can't stand not doing something, But I couldn't come up with a plan to take the bells from you myself or to get Sasuke and Sakura to work with me." Naruto replied, standing up and putting his hands on his hips. "So, I guess I'll just have to fight you myself!" He declared, throwing his arm up in the air. However, the over-exuberant movement caused him to fall off balance and fall backwards out of the tree. He landed hard on his stomach, groaning slightly. Kakashi sweat dropped slightly.

"Really? Maybe we should take this fight to the ground then?" Kakashi said, hopping off his branch. As he was in mid-air, five shuriken came buzzing at him from behind. Twisting in mid-air, Kakashi saw Sasuke, still in the throwing position. Kakashi faced him and went through a few hand signs. Before he could finish however, a small tugging in the back of his mind alerted him to a gen-jutsu attempt. He let his shaped chakra go and made his chakra flow stop for a moment, releasing him from the genjutsu. He was about to turn his attention back to Sasuke when he heard running behind him. Naruto was coming at him, holding a short stick in his right hand, ready to swing it right across his body. However, Naruto swung to early and missed completely as Kakashi stood there, not like a stick was gona hurt. What Kakashi didn't expect was for a Kanabo to pop into existence in his left hand, brining up a follow through blow into him, sending him sprawling into a tree.

'_Damn, he hits like a freight train.' _Kakashi thought as he gingerly stood up. Looking down in surprise, he found that the bells were gone. _'When did he...'_ Kakashi asked himself. Looking at the sun, he found it was time to go back. _Maybe I'll get some answers here in a minute...'_

When Kakashi came back into the clearing he saw that Sasuke and Sakura were untied with a bell each and all three of them were eating the bento lunches he'd brought. Walking up to the clearing, he stopped and politely waited until they were finished eating. Once everyone was done, he turned to Naruto. "How were you able to get the bells from me?" Kakashi asked. The other two looked up as well, apparently, he'd made them wait until he got back so he wouldn't have to tell the story twice. Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, Naruto began. "No questions until the end please."

Facing Kakashi he began. "When I "fell" out of the tree, I used that as a distraction to create a smokeless kage bushin in the forest, and then swap places with it. Once your attention was focused on the Bushin, I made two more and had them henge into Sasuke and Sakura. I thought that would give me a surprise advantage since you would think they were still tied to the posts. Once I finished that, I had them wait until you were in air to have the Sasuke bushin throw the first volley of shuriken, getting you to turn around long enough for me to switch back with my clone. Then, I started running at you. I had the Sakura bushin attempt to get you in a gen-jutsu to keep you busy long enough to get within range to hit. When I did, I used the stick as a diversion so you wouldn't move back, thinking I was being stupid, for the follow up attack. When I hit you, I hit you into a specific tree I had the Sakura bushin hide behind. While you were still disoriented, she took the bells, brought them back to me, and then you can probably draw the rest of the lines from there." Naruto finished.

Kakashi was impressed. _' That's a well thought out plan to come up with on the fly Naruto, not to mention the fact that you can use kage bushin and kawarmi so well.' _Kakashi thought. "Well played Naruto, If I may ask, how did you learn Kage-bushin?" Kakashi asked. Naruto seemed to stifen somewhat before answering. "A long time ago, probably when I was around four, I saw a chunnin use it, It only has one hand sign, so I was able to memorize it, the difficult part was learning the _EXACT_ amount of chakra to use so that it dosen't make smoke." Naruto answered.He had told the truth, he'd seen a chunnin use it when he was four, that, along with a horde of angry villagers, had been one of the last things he'd ever seen. "And the Knanbo?" Kakshi asked. "Summoning tatoo." Naruto replied, showing him the tatoo's on his hand. Kakashi nodded at this.

"Well, good work." Kakashi praised. "However, it seems that you gave your hard earned bells to Sasuke and Sakura, why is that?" Kakashi asked. Naruto let loose a small sigh and said. "With all due respect Kakashi-sensei, I do not wish to be on a team that has no desire for me to be on it." Naruto stated, with maybe a hint of depression? "Care to elaborate Naruto?" Kakashi asked. Nodding, Naruto started to explain. "What I meant by that, Is exactly what it sounded like. Sasuke could care less about who was on the team so long as he got stronger, Sakura doesn't care who is on the team as long as she is with Sasuke, And no offense Kakashi-sensei, but Going with my usual experince with adults, I'd say you wouldn't want me here either." Naruto finished, a slightly sad look on his face. "I understand the bit about me, but for what it's worth, I don't think that about you" Kakashi said, getting a slight nod of appreciation from Naruto. _'Poor kid...'_ Kakashi thought. Looking at his other two students, Sasuke looked indifferent, if not angry at Naruto, probably for showing him up. Sakura looked thoughtful, and slightly hurt, probably thinking about what he said about her.

"Well, sorry to say this Naruto, but im passing this team, and since we need three people, guess your stuck with us." Kakashi said, giving his infamous eye smile. Naruto sighed again, but with a hint of a smile this time. "All right, well done team, meet at the bridge tomorrow for our first team assignment." Kakashi gave a small mock salute and disappeared. "Hey Sasuke, do you wanna g-no." Sasuke said, cutting Sakura off before she could finish her question. She looked sadly at the ground. Naruto, oblivious to her facial expression, just bade her farewell and left. "I really need to change..." Sakura said aloud to no one in particular. One wolf-boy happened to catch it though, and smiled slightly.

The next day, the team met Kakashi at the bridge and he took them to go get there first mission. "Walking through the village, The group noticed the Glares and some killing intent sent at Naruto, who seemed to ignore it. When asked about it he'd reply with a simple. "I don't want tot alk about it." Letting it drop, the group walked into the mission room and found the Hokage. "Team 7 reporting for a mission." Kakashi said. Sarutobi nodded and picked up one scroll, a decidedly devious glint in his eye.

"Being your first D-rank mission, we have a tradition to uphold." The Hokage said, giving them a serious look. "It is of the UPMOST importance you pass this mission, it is a mile stone in all gennin teams lives." He continued, getting slightly scared, and grim looks from team 7. Sakura let loose an audible gulp, parying it wasn't anything to difficult. Sasuke had a grim, determined look on his face. NAruto, despite himself, was eager to get started,. Kakashi had to hold back a silent chuckle at the facade, the Hokage must really be getting bored if he decided to start playing pranks himself... "Team 7, your first D-rank mission is..." Sarutobi paused for dramatic effect. Team7 held there breath, waiting expectantly. "...Find missing pet tora." The hokage said in a suddenly lackluster voice. Team 7, with the exception of Kakashi, face faulted, leaving a chuckling Kakashi and Sarutobi.

A/N: Yo, next xhapter is the wave arc, and either chapter four or five will be the beginning of the chunnin exams, not sure which yet, but im leaning towards chapter four. Major changes to the plot line, and some new characters during the chunnin exams, so if you decide to skip chapters, don't skip these next ones. Also, I'm playing with the idea of Giving Naruto a hyton (Ice) affinity, If I do, it will fit into the story and I'll make sure he doesn't become unbalanced, if I don't, no huge loss, I just came up with something really cool with hyton for Naruto, but I's going to begin in the wave arc, so you guys can review and tell me what you think for that, I'll give three day's for results and then go from there regardless. (I put a poll bellow for people who don't read the author's notes)

Poll: Naruto gets a hyton(ice) affinity

1:yes

2:no

Note: I will still do what I want with this, regardless of results, however if I get enough votes one way or the other, I may lean towards the winning side, so be sure to vote for which you want!


	3. Trust

Hello all, Sorry about the long over due update, but originally this chapter, and the following chapter were one chapter, but I decided to split it into two. In doing so I had to rewrite a few things so that they would mesh together better. Also, I've just been busy. Now, for those of you who are wondering why I havent gone in depth into character relations, I'll let you in on a little bit. First of all, the whole story is not going to take place in konoha, im not saying anymore on that subject. Second, building character relations with people who aren't going to be a major part in the story, I think is a waste of time. Now, im not saying any more than that, as not to ruin the surprise, but I think you guys will enjoy this story, if I ever get enough time to fully write it -- I mean seriously, the time has FLEW by. Now I'll stop yammerin and let you guys read. However, one last thing. Pay attention to some of the foreshadowing, it's subtle, but it's there!

Team seven stood in front of the third Hokage. It was just after noon, and they'd just finished catching Tora the cat...again. Naruto hated that cat with a passion. Every time they went after the thing, it shredded his clothes beyond recognition, this time included. However, this was his last set of clothes, which meant he was going to have to go clothes shopping here soon. Sighing, he turned his attention to the Hokage, who was saying something.

"Good work team seven, your next D-rank mission will be..."

Just then a cat hissing and spitting sounded through the air, with a horrified "TORA!" right after it. Sarutobi sighed, and started to finish his sentence. At this point in time, Naruto's wolf sense's kicked in again, telling him to speak up.

Sarutobi was just about to re-assign team seven to hunting down Tora again when Naruto spoke up.

"With all due respect Ji-san, I think we have enough experience under our belt for a c-rank mission, and so help me Kami if we have to go after that cat again I'll loose what little decency I have left." Naruto said, motioning to his shredded clothes.

"I have to agree with Naruto." Sasuke spoke up.

After the first 2-3 weeks or so of being on the same team, Sasuke and Naruto had developed a decent friendship. Sasuke mellowed out somewhat. He still wanted revenge for his family, but it was almost like it had been put on a back burner for awhile. If anyone brought up Itachi or anything else that got him mad he was still stuck up and arrogant.

"I think we could do a higher ranked mission...and I really don't need to see an indecent Naruto." Sasuke finished as an after-thought. Sakura nodded in agreement.

"The only boy im seeing naked is Sasuke-kun." Sakura said before she could stop herself. Upon realizing what she said and the looks she was getting, she had the modesty to blush.

Sakura was doing better to. She wasn't nearly as loud as she used to be, which was a huge plus for Naruto. She had also started giving Sasuke some space, and only asked if Sasuke wanted to do something more like once a week than several times everyday, for which Sasuke was grateful. The team had even gone out together on several occasions to eat together. They were becoming fast friends, and people Naruto trusted.

"Where I would normally be against a c-rank mission this early...I have to agree with the other two on the Naruto thing." Kakashi added. Naruto got slightly ticked after this.

Kakashi was a big part of the team too, though no one knew how. Being lazy, unresponsive, chronically tardy, and perverted. Some how he had STILL managed to wriggle his way into there hearts a s a part of the team.

. "Ok, I said it cause I won't have any more clothes left, am I honestly that unattractive?" Naruto asked in a rare social moment.

"Well, as far as men goes, I would hope that your not trying to be attractive to them." Kakashi replied.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not gay by any means, but still, the way you guys are going on about it, you make it seem like seeing me nude would be worst than seeing another guy nude." Naruto said, frowning slightly.

"Hmm...point taken Naruto, We'll lay off your looks since we have a partially biased judgement, due to the fact we're men, and leave it to Sakura." Sasuke said.

Giving him a critical eye, Sakura walked around Naruto, looking him up and down.

"Well, it's not that your unattractive, but I think it's more your attitude, your always quiet and you keep to yourself."

"And Sasuke dosen't?" Naruto asked.

"Sasuke's different, he has a reason for it, he survived the Uchiha clan massacre, he's had a hard life, you just do it to do it." Sakura said.

Naruto growled at her somewhat. Sensing a sore subject, Sakura let it drop.

'_There's no way Naruto's had a hard life...right?' Sakura thought._

They were cut out of there discussion by Sarutobi speaking.

"Well, I think you could handle a c-rank mission, let's see..." Sarutobi said, fishing through scrolls until he found one he was satisfied with.

"Requested C-rank mission: Guard a master bridge builder on his way home to wave country from bandits, do you accept this mission?" Sarutobi asked.

Team seven sounded a unanimous "Hai!" Sarutobi nodded and waved for a chunnin to bring there client in. A man walked in through a large set of double doors. He wore a straw hat and wooden sandals, with normal traveling clothes. He had a bottle of sake in his hand, and Naruto's guess would be he'd been long drunk, if the smell were any indication. The man looked over the team and scoffed.

"This is the team that's going to protect me? They look weak, especially the one with the rags."

The man said, pointing at Naruto. Slightly aggravated, Naruto replied. "These are my clothes, not rags."

The bridge builders eyes widened for a moment, as if in surprise. "By Kami boy, have you no decency?!" The man asked.

Naruto started twitching slightly. Fearing for there client's, or any innocent by-stander's health, Kakashi stepped in.

"I assure you, my team is sufficient for the mission, and if not, I will be accompanying you as well. Team, meet at the North gate tomorrow at seven, don't be late."

Team seven nodded and left, going there respectful ways. Naruto, speeding off to go ask some of his friends for help buying new clothes, and Sakura to ask Sasuke for a date.

"Hey, Sasuke, would you like to go get something to eat with me?" Sakura asked.

"No." Sasuke replied. But this time instead of his usual cold hearted no, he'd actually looked at her when he turned her down. That was a mistake. When Sasuke turned around he saw how putdown Sakura looked, and it was because of him. Realizing that made his conscious eat away at him. A scene of rain clouds forming over Sakura and pouring rain as he walked away from her flashed through his mind for some reason.

'_Damn conscious...'_ Sasuke thought.

Sakura had turned and was about to walk away, Sasuke spoke up again.

"Sorry Sakura, im not really that hungry, but we can go for a walk if you like." He said. Sakura spun around, looking at Sasuke in disbelief. Her eyes lit up and a big smile pulled onto her face.

'_She looks cute when she smiles...did I just think that?' _Sasuke thought to himself. He had no time to wonder though as Sakura happily hooked her arm through his and dragged him off.

'_What have I gotten myself into...'_

Naruto sped through the town to fast for anyone to even notice who he was. As the ramen bar he frequented came into view, he slowed down until he was right in front of it. Walking in, he tried to find Ayame. To his surprise, he found both Ayame and Hinata there, talking about something or other. He walked up to the two and greeted them.

"Hello Hinata-chan, Ayame-chan." Naruto said, getting there attention.

"Hi Naruto-kun!..." Both girls began before trailing off, blushing beet red.

Slightly unnerved by the silence, Naruto asked. "What's wrong?"

Unknown to Naruto was to what extent his clothes were damaged. The grey pair of cargo pants he usually wore were gone, leaving only enough material to become, at best a loin cloth. The thin, long sleeved shirt he wore was completely gone, not a thread of it in sight, and the white muscle shirt he wore under it was cut and ripped in several places, allowing the girls to catch glimpses of his skin stretched tight over his muscles. His muscles didn't bulge, but they definitely stood out.

"Ano...Na-naru-naruto-kun...w-w-what happened t-t-to yo-your clo-clothes?

"Ah...well, you see, the majority of my clothes were shredded during some missions, so I need some more, preferably durable, clothes." Naruto said.

The girls perked up at this and were instantly talking amongst themselves about where to go.

"Oh, I know a nice place that sells fancy clothing over by the east gate!" Ayame said, a cute smile adorning her face.

"Ano, Naruto-kun says he needed durable clothing, I don't think that fancy clothing would be of much use." Hinata replied, an equally cute smile on her face.

The conversation lasted for another ten minutes before Naruto tried to interupt.

"Excuse me, if you could just-QUIET!" He was cutoff by a simultaneous shout from the two girls. Needless to say, he didn't open his mouth again unless asked to speak, and learned not to disturb women when they were talking about anything that had to do with clothes.

Finally, an hour and five bowls of Ramen later, the girls decided where to go.

"Oh, I know a good place, a girl on my cousin's team, Tenten, lives in a ninja outfitters store, I bet they'd have clothes that would be useful." Hinata said.

After the three (Ayame and Hinata, Naruto just went along with it) decided where to go, Naruto paid for his ramen and they left the stand. Hinata and Ayame talked the entire way there, going on about what color would look good on Naruto or if he should buy certain articles of clothing or not. Naruto just remained quiet and followed after like a lost dog. Some of the husbands who were walking on the street's with there own wives saw this and sympathized with him somewhat. Demon or not, clothes shopping with a woman was never fun, at least not for the guy. The trio arrived at the outfitters store at three in the afternoon. Walking in, they found a rather bored looking girl sitting at the counter flipping through a weapons catalog. She had brown hair, done up in bun's on her head. She wore a pink Chinese shirt and normal ninja pants. Hinata got her attention.

"Tenten!" Hinata called out in a unusually loud voice. The bun-haired girl looked up and smiled.

"Hinata! What brings you here?" Tenten asked, jumping over the counter and crushing her friend in a hug.

"Ano, Naruto-kun needed some new clothes and asked Ayame and I to help him pick something out. Ayame, Naruto-kun, this is my friend Tenten, and vice-versa." Hinata said, introducing her friends to each other.

"So you need some ninja clothes huh? You came to the right place!" Tenten said out loud, right after she leaned over and whispered in Hinata's ear.

"So he's the guy huh?" Tenten asked. Naruto, who had been training his hearing for the past few weeks, heard this and decided to listen in, smirking inwardly.

"Yes, he's the one I was telling you about." Hinata replied.

'_It's good to know someone care's about me.' _Naruto thought.

' **Hey, I care about you Naru-kun.' **The kyuubi said, in what could only be described as a pout.

'_Gomen, I know you do kyu-chan, I didn't mean it that way.' _Naruto replied.

'**And besides, im not sure I like that girl.'** the kyuubi said, growling slightly.

'_Which one?' _Naruto asked. He noticed Ayame walk over to the two and they began "Girl talk" which he had learned to stay out of, but when he heard his name mentioned, he couldn't help but listen in.

"Wow, he sure knows how to make a first impression on a girl with the way he dresses, don't you have any competition Hinata?" Tenten asked, blushing slightly at the near naked Naruto standing in front of her.

"Well, kinda. You see, Hinata and I both like him, and we did have a kinda rivalry thing going, but then we decided we could share him." Ayame cut in.

Naruto was stunned, and kyuubi seemed to be radiating a horrified arua. Two girls liked, and wanted to _share_ him? When was he going to find out about this?

"Hey, would you girls let me in on this with you?" Tenten asked.

Much to the now horror of Naruto and outrage of Kyuubi, Ayame answered. "Of course! That means less competition before other girls find him! We'll have a leg up on them. However, I think after this if anymore girls want to join we should have a unanimous vote, after all, we don't want Naruto-kun to end up with someone who would hurt him." Ayame said, the girls all nodded at that.

Outwardly Naruto was calm, and slightly grateful that they cared enough to watch out for him, Usually he didn't even go out of his way to talk to them, like they did for him. After realizing that, he felt bad about it. Maybe it was time to start trusting his friends. He didn't LIKE not being sociable after all.

'_I think I'll start opening up to them, let them know I care about them too.'_ Naruto thought to himself. Naruto was broken out of his thoughts however when kyuubi started ranting.

'**THOSE HUSSIES! I WAS HERE FIRST! IF ANYONE'S GETTING HIM IT'S ME! IV'E BEEN WAITING TWO HUNDRED AND TWElVE YEARS AND IM NOT ABOUT TO LOOSE HIM TO SOME STINKING MORTAL WOMEN!**_' _Kyubbi roared. Though the waiting part caught Naruto's attention.

'_Kyu-chan, what did you mean by waiting for two hundred and twelve years?' _Naruto asked.

Kyuubi seemed to stop ranting instantly and he felt an embarrassed sort of aura come off of her.

'**Oops, you weren't supposed to know about that yet...look, I'll tell you tonight while you sleep, in the mean time, I suggest you wake back up, your girl friends are talking to you.'** Kyuubi said. Naruto came back to earth to catch there question.

"So, what kind of clothes are you needing Naruto-_kun_." Tenten asked, emphasizing the kun.

" I need something sturdy, more durable than what i've been wearing, preferably dark colored and loosed fitting that won't constrict my movements but won't get hung up on stuff either." Naruto answered. Nodding, the girls set to work.

It was an interesting affair, clothes shopping with three girls. It was loud, tiresome, and weird. The girls were constantly talking and giggling, Naruto learning a fair bit about them, sometimes a bit more than he thought they would tell. He also had to wonder if they were dressing him up as a doll sometimes because he got the feeling after putting on a few outfits and hearing a few outburst's of giggling. Other times, particularly when Naruto was wearing some form fitting clothes, he'd hear the giggling, and he THOUGHT he heard someone using a camera, but couldn't be sure. As he absently went through set after set of clothes, his mind began to wonder to his other friends. He knew these girls liked him, and he didn't think they were doing it to just hurt him, but what about his other friends?

Following that trail of thought, he began to view his friends, seeing who would accept him and who wouldn't.

' _Well let's see...I know Shikamaru pretty well, he may be lazy, but he's a good guy. He's never went out of his way to harm anyone before. Chouji is pretty nice too. He usually goes out of his way to be nice, but it isn't a facade either, he just likes to be nice. Kiba...hmm, Kkiba's pretty loud and brash, I'm not to sure about him, He's more of a rival than anything...I'll just have to play it by ear with him. Shino should be fine, Iv'e known him for a long time, and if anything he can relate to something living inside you. Then there's the girls. Hinata seems trustworthy. If she's ever done anything out of spite I'd be surprised. Ino is kinda shallow... but only when it comes to guys she likes or something like that, I don't know, I'd have to get to know her better. All in all though, I think I could trust them._' Naruto concluded. Then his mind went to his team.

'_I think I could start trusting my team now too. Kakashi already know's my secret, or one of them anyway, and he seems like he couldn't care less. At first I thought Sakura was like Ino...But she has a little more too her than that. I almost see her as a sister. I think she could be trustworthy. And as far as Sasuke goes, he's getting better, slowly, but surely, I could give him a chance. He's like a brother too me as is._

Kyuubi had a sort of...almost agreeing feeling coming off her, And of all the people Naruto knew, She, along with Ayame, Teuchi, and the Hokage, was someone he trusted with his life. If she thought they we're ok, then that was all Naruto needed to hear. Naruto came back to Earth just in time to hear Ayame.

"We're done Naruto-kun." Naruto nodded and took the clothes Ayame offered to him. Stepping into a stall, he felt his way around the clothes and got them on in decent time. He stepped back out of the stall, and, not being able to see, Naruto decided to ask the girls they're opinion.

"So girls...how do I look?" He asked

Naruto was now wearing a black muscle shirt under a dark grey vest that had various pockets. A pair of black cargo pants and combat boots. He wore a black, short sleeved zip up hoody over the vest, hiding the vest's pockets.

"Lookin good Naruto-kun." Ayame said with a grin. Tenten merely gave a thumbs up, though not nearly as exuberant as her sensei, Hinata just gave a small smile.

"Well girls, it's getting late, and I have my first C-rank mission tomorrow, so I need to get home and get to sleep." Naruto said, handing Tenten the money for a week's worth set of the clothes. As Naruto got to the door, he decided that, since he could trust them, he could let loose around them a little more. Turning back, he said.

"I heard _everything_ you said tonight." He missed the looks of shock and then embarrassment on there faces as he left.

Naruto walked home fairly quickly, wanting to know what kyuubi had to say. He took a shower, ate a quick cup of ramen, brushed his teeth, combed his tail and he was in bed. Not soon after he found himself in what appeared to be a sewer. Piping seemed to make up the ceiling above him and water covered the floor, coming up to his ankles. There were long hallways pretty much any direction you looked. Some led to his memories, Which by far were the corridors Naruto liked the least. There were many doors that had thick chains locking them shut with various padlocks on them. The shadows seemed to move whenever you got to close to them. Then some halls were dedicated to what he was dreaming, and some of the few good memories he had. And last but not least, the hallway to the kyuubi, which is the one he took tonight. You could always tell you were on the right track because the pipes above your head would steadily glow a brighter red as you walked, getting closer to the kyuubi.

Naruto turned a final right and found himself in a vast room. A majority of the piping seemed to come through this room. Three of the walls were merely just that, walls, but one side of the room was made up of a giant wooden cage that was the kyuubi's prison. Walking over to it, he found the giant fox sitting, apparently waiting for his arrival.

"**Hello Naru-kun, I've been waiting for you." **The Kyuubi said. Naruto nodded.

"So, whats this about having waited two hundred and twelve years for something?" Naruto asked.

The kyuubi sighed slightly, before looking him in the eye. (He can see in his mindscape.)

"**Iv'e got a lot to tell, so, make yourself comfortable."** Kyuubi said. Naruto nodded and sat down on the floor. Kyuubi took a deep breath and began.

"**First of all, I'm not centuries old or anything like that, I'm only two hundred and twenty."** Kyuubi said. Naruto was surprised, of all the things he'd expected, it wasn't that.

The Kyuubi didn't give him much time to think on it as she began speaking again.

"**In order for you to understand some part's of this story, you have to learn a bit about demons. As I'm sure you know, demons are not seen in the best light, often depicted as deceiving, war hungry, bloodthirsty, etc... This description came from humans past and the legend was carried on through the generations. But there was a misconception. This is actually not true, most demons detest war, and would rather spend they're lives in peace. The thing demons hunger for most actually is knowledge, and they often spend they're entire lives gaining knowledge."** The kyuubi explained. Curious, Naruto decided to voice his thoughts.

"Im not calling you a liar or anything Kyu-chan, but why would demons detest war?" Naruto asked.

"**Well, think about it Naruto, Demons live forever until they are killed by something, and we thirst for knowledge. We can not look for knowledge if we are dead, and we live such long lives, that if we we're to have a war over every little thing, instead of just talking it out, we would literally be in a living hell. It is one of the reasons demon's have honor codes. Because we live so long, if one of us were to gain a grudge, we would have eons to think of a plan for vengance against that person, and that thirst for vengance would be passed down to everyone in the line, untill eventually you had a clan full of demons who wanted nothing out of there lives but vengeance." **The kyuubi explained.

"Oh, I see, that makes a lot of sense kyu-chan. But, that aside, whaat were you saying about a misconception?" Naruto asked. Taking on a serious face, Kyuubi replied.

"**Well, Just as Humans, not all demons like peace, some do like pain and suffering, and thrive in war, though they are very few. It is from them, and not from them, that this misunderstanding come's from." The kyuubi said.**

"Hold on a second, I'm confused, how can it come from them, and not come from them?" Naruto asked.

"**About two-hundred and forty years ago I'd say, A group of demons came together and formed a plan, a plan to throw the world into war and chaos, a world in which they would thrive." **The Kyuubi explained.

" **The manner in which this group is at fault, is because of how they went about they're plan. Now, I don't know details since I was only eight at the time the war ended, but I will tell what I know. This group of demons would take humans, other demons, animals, anything living, and turn them into a false demon, which is what the humans of past were describing, and what the new generating mis-understood. These changed humans, beasts, even plants, were bloodthirsty and savage, often attacking travelers, caravans, even whole villages when in force." **Kyuubi said, finishing up her explanation.

"How wasn't it there fault?" Naruto asked.

"**Well, It was the humans who took there ancestor's warning message the wrong way, so humans are also partly at fault for the misconception as well."** Kyuubi explained, earning a sweatdrop from Naruto

"Ok, so, what happened? Did the group win the war? Did Humans and demons win the war? What?" Naruto asked.

"**I was getting to that Naru-kun, be patient please.** **Now, regardless of what you have heard in myth, it is possible to kill a demon, or at least a lesser one, Demons like us biju are usually too powerful to kill by human standards.** **So the humans did have a chance in the war, especially when the demons allied with them. It was a rather even war in the beginning, but as the false demons would capture villages, and land in general, they would rise in numbers exponentially, giving them the advantage in the war. However, Humans had on there side some of the demon clan's. Such as my own clan the Kitsune, and the Tankui. One of the most important clans was the Ookami clan." **

"The Ookami clan?" Naruto asked.The kyuubi nodded.

"**Yes, this clan in particular was very strong. Now, we Kitsune are nothing to scoff at, but we usually rely on our intelligence to get us through a fight, just as the Tankui usually rely on trickery. The Ookami clan were one of the few melee oriented clans if you will. Like a true wolf. They have incredible stamina and strength, and pain tolerance like they didn't even feel pain. But they were not just blundering muscle headed fools. They were quite intelligent, not so much as a Kitsune, but** **were one of the few clans that could hold a conversation with a kitsune for more than five minutes at a time." Kyuubi said.**

**Now, like I said, at the time I was not very old, so I don't remember much, but I know two things of the Ookami caln and of the war. The first of which, is the Ookami clan were the ones to end the war, but at the price of the entire clan except for a few who were away. And the second, I was in an arranged marriage with the clan heir, who had yet to be born."**

Naruto nodded quickly, eager to learn more.

**At the time the Ookami clan defeated the false demons, and the real demons behind it, most of my clan was destroyed for some reason, I still don't know what to this day. The only reason I escaped was because I was away visiting my mother's sister, Meigo. I'm not sure how she got away, but the mother of the clan heir had made her way to the Kitsune clan house, the same time I did, only for the both of us to find it in shambles and everyone dead. We were both distraught, and went back to Meigo for help." **Kyuubi's face scrunched up hard, trying to remember something.

"**Meigo took us in and kept us safe for month or two, but it was nearing the time for the Ookami clan heir to be born. However, the Heir's mother, I'm afraid I don't remember her name, said something about the war not being over only postponed, I'm not sure what she meant by that. For some reason, she said that heir child needed to be born closer to the time of when the threat would return, so other surviving members of the Ookami clan might recognize him, something about easily recognized right of passage or something... I'm not sure, Anyway, Meigo agreed to help her, and put her under some sort of deep sleep jutsu, but it cost Meigo her life, so I was left to guard my unborn husband and his mother." **

"**For over a hundred and fifty years, I guarded her with my life, before two brothers came upon me, wanting to make a village. They asked me permission to make the village on the land I had claimed as my own, and I agreed, so long as they would help me protect the heir and his mother. However, I had to leave them, so I could try to figure out what the Ookami clan did to defeat, or rather, postpone the false demons, and see when they would come back. I was gone for near fifty years in search for it, but I found nothing. When I returned, I found the village of Konoha." **

"**However, When I came back to re-assume my position of guarding the heir and his mother, The village attacked me, thinking me a threat because of my fox-form.** **I tried to cause as little damage as possible to the village, but I had to defend myself. Hundreds upon hundreds of the village's ninja threw themselves at me, many burning to death on my fur, or I would accidentally step on them. I tried to tell them to stop, that I meant no harm, but they ignored me, thinking it a trick." **

"**Finally, the Village Hokage arrived, but it was neither of the brother's whom I knew. Thinking me a threat to the village, he did the only thing he could and sealed me away into the only newborn at hand. The newborn came from the very women who I was trying to protect, who awoke and went into forced labor at my "attack" and died giving birth to her son and my husband. That new-born was you, Naruto, Heir to the proud Ookami clan, and fiancé to the Kyuubi no Kitsune, Simari."** Kyuubi said, finishing her story.

Naruto was silent for a moment, taking it all in. He believed Kyuubi, or as he now knew to call her, Simari, it was just a lot to absorb, and the fact that she didn't even know all the facts left a few open ends for questions. But, it wasn't as if this whole ordeal surprised him. Not a lot did surprise him anymore...

"I don't suppose you would be able to tell me about my parents, would you Simari?" The kitsune shook her head solemnly, wishing she could tell him something. Naruto saw her depression and thought of a way to bring her out of it.

"So, am I engaged to a giant Fox, or do you have a human form?" Naruto asked, smirking a little.

Simari looked up, slightly shocked.

"**Wait, aren't you mad at me for the treatment you've received? For literally ruining your life?"** Simari asked. Frowning slightly, Naruto replied.

"Of course not Simari-chan, it wasn't your fault, your not the one whobeat me, or abused me. You're the one who kept me sane all these years, even gave me my sight back to a degree, I am nothing, but thankful for you." Naruto answered.

A stray tear slid down the giant foxes face as she gave him a foxy smile. She began to change shape. She first began to shrink, her size diminishing to that of a human. Then, her fur started to disappear, and was replaced with a white kimono. Skin was now visible. A pale, almost shining white skin. The fox-turned-woman in front of him was beautiful. She had snowy white hair and slitted blue eyes. A pair of white fox ears were perched atop her head and nine white fox tails swayed back and forth behind her. The kimono she wore clung to her frame, revealing that she had an hour glass waist and a rather plentiful bust Naruto was having troubles looking away from. She had an almond face with full pouting lips and a cute button nose. She looked not a day older than eighteen.

Simari noticed her fiance's stare and blushed slightly.

"Wow..." Was all Naruto could say, causing Simari to smirk. _'Take THAT mortal women!'_ Simari thought to herself in silent victory.

Naruto snapped out of his trance and brought Simari out of hers.

"Not that I don't like it, but what's with all the white?" Naruto asked.

"I'm an arctic fox demon, the only reason my fur is red when I transform is because I take after my father in fox form, and my mother in human form." simari explained. Naruto nodded for a moment before shaking his head rapidly from left to right.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...hang on a sec and let me get this straight, I'm heir to a clan of demon wolves whom before most of them died defeated some sort of false demon army, but only temporarily defeated them, and the army is supposed to come back at some point in time. So now I'm a clan head, who has to worry about the return of a false-demon army, figure out a way to get my fiancé out of my stomach, how to put up with four possible wives, restore my clan, put up with my village, and be a ninja, all in one? Naruto asked.

"Hey, you are a ninja, you'll figure something out." simari replied. Naruto sighed heavily.

"We'll talk more while you walk, it's time to get up now." Simari said. Her form gradually disappeared as Naruto woke up to start his first mission.

A/N:

Oh? What's this? An original Kyuubi characterization? I thought it was rather good myself, give me a review on what ya think about it. Next chapter is the beginning of the wave arc, hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter, I put a lot of work into it.


	4. partners and shenanigans

Disclaimer: I do not Own Naruto or any original idea's, Jutsu, or anything of the sort that has to do with the manga/anime. The Oc's I use, and my eventual plot twists are mine however, this goes for the entire story, not just this chapter, I assure anyone who reads this if I happen to somehow attain ownership of Naruto, my readers will be the first ones to know.

...epp...

...eep...

...Bee...

...Beep...

...bee-click...

Naruto woke up groggily. It was strange waking up after talking to the kyuubi. It was like his mind was already sharp and awake, but the body hadn't caught up yet. Getting up off the bed, he found it was six in the morning. Not wanting to be late, he forestalled any conversation with the kyuubi until he was walking. So he hurried through his usual morning activities and checked his gear twice, not wanting to be caught unprepared. After he was satisfied that he was prepared, he put on his genjutsu and headed toward the north gate. Once he was there he checked his watch finding that he still had a good twenty five minutes. He spent ten minutes doing a few warm up stretches, making sure he was nice and limber. After that was done he sat down on a near by bench waiting for his team.

Fifteen minutes later. The rest of team seven showed up. Sakura and Sasuke were still groggy so they didn't bother asking Naruto about his new clothes or didn't notice, he suspected it was the latter. Five minutes after that Kakashi showed up with the bridge builder.

"Good morning team, I believe we forgot introductions yesterday, this is Tazuna-san, the bridge builder we'll be protecting. Tazuna-san, this is my team, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto."

Kakashi said, taking care of the introductions. Sasuke grunted his greeting, Naruto nodded, as did Sakura. Tazuna gave a cheery "Good morning!"and they were off. Sasuke taking point, with Naruto off to Tazuna's left. Sakura was on Tazuna's right and Kakashi was bringing up the rear. It was by no means boring, at least for Naruto. He LOVED being out of the village. Listening to the birds and wildlife around him. Many wonderful new smells, though with the occasional unwanted surprise, assaulting his nose, no villagers oppressing him sending glares and threats at him. All this coupled with the fact that he was holding a steady conversation with his fiancé led to one of the nicest morning's he'd ever had. Simari had told him how to alter the seal just enough so that they could share his senses. If anything entered his nose, ears, mouth, they both heard, smelled, or tasted it respectively. Naruto was really happy for the first time in a long time.

A puddle came into view up ahead on the side of the road. Naruto could hear the two men breathing in the puddle, and once they came into view, he could find them within his Chakra dome easily. But Kakashi had made no move to do anything to them yet. Assuming he had his reasons, Naruto let it go. The group got not five feet from the puddle before two people rose out of it. They wore strange thing on there face that apparently let them breath underwater with goggles that covered there eyes. They each had a linked chain gauntlet. They wore dark clothing and a cape. The duo ran at Kakashi and got him in there chain, They pulled and Kakashi was cut to pieces.

"One down." One of the two said. Sakura screamed, and the two ran at her, assuming she would be the easiest one to get past to get to Tazuna.

"Shit!" Naruto swore, seeming to disappear. The brothers were right on top of Sakura, who seemed to have froze up in fear. Sasuke was yelling at her to move, but she didn't hear him. The chain was about to wrap around her when Naruto appeared in front of her, Katana in hand. A swift stroke with the blade severed the chain, rendering it useless. Naruto rushed the one on his right, slashing and jabbing at his opponent who was dodging left and right. The other nin forgot Sakura and rushed towards Tazuna and Sasuke. Sasuke engaged the nin, fighting back with some speedy taijutsu.

Naruto was fighting his nin, with seemingly mediocre sword skills. He sent an overzealous back hand swing at the nin, missing and leaving his body wide open. The nin saw an opening and took it, punching at Naruto's stomach. Before it got there though, the Katana disappeared from Naruto's right hand, and reappeared in Naruto's left. Swinging left to right, Naruto cut the mans arm in half, lengthwise. The ninja screamed in agony. At the end of the stroke, Naruto switched into a backhanded grip and brought the sword back, cutting the man's head and blood curdling scream off. Naruto flicked his sword a few times, getting the excess blood off of it before wiping the harder to get stuff on the nins clothing.

Sasuke's fight was somewhat quicker. Sasuke had gone into the fight with some strong taijutsu, kicking and punching hard and dancing away from countering blows. The nin sent a viscous uppercut at Sasuke, that sent the boy up into the air. The enemy nin smirked, however, unknown to him, Sasuke had allowed himself to be hit. As he was flying through the air, Sasuke preformed the seals to one of his favorite jutsu.

"Great fireball technique!" Sasuke whispered. The boy back flipped in midair, setting him up perfectly with his target. The ebony haired boy sent the fireball at the nin point-blank. Not having any time to move, the nin threw up his arms to protect himself best he could. The ball of flame smashed into him, driving him into the ground. When the flame was out, Sasuke dropped into the hole and finished the fight with a chop to the nin's neck, knocking him unconscious.

Seeing Sasuke's fight finished, Naruto picked up Sakura's scent and jogged over to her. Sakura seemed to be slightly shocked, as Naruto put a hand on her shoulder. Her head snapped up to look at him.

"Are you ok Sakura?" Naruto asked. The girl nodded.

"Sasuke, are you and Tazuna ok?" Naruto yelled over at the boy.

"We're fine Naruto!. What about you two?!" He called back. Naruto gave him a thumbs up and walked Sakura over to the group. As he made it to them Kakashi came out of the woods, clapping.

"Wonderful job team, Excellent ninjutsu Sasuke. Naruto, you deserve an award for that acting skill of yours." Kakashi said, giving his infamous eye smile. Naruto gave a wolfish grin at that while the other three just looked confused. Walking up to Tazuna, Kakashi gave the man a stern look, causing him to sweat slightly.

"We need to talk..." Kakashi said, glaring at Tazuna slightly. Tazuna went on to tell the team about Wave country's predicament. About how some tyrant named Gato was running the country by means of fear and squandering the island's ports for his own illegal dealings and such. If he could get the bridge he was building finished, he could break the hold Gato had over the island. After his story was told (and a small guilt trip that involved his family) Team seven agreed to go through with the mission and help Tazuna complete his bridge.

After walking for a ways team seven had made it to a dock where one of Tazuna's friends were going to sneak the group in under the bridge. The bridge was huge. Not really a marvel of engineering or anything, but still impressive. They were in a small boat, rowing and not using the motor to avoid noise. On either side of the small river they were on was a tree line, showing that the river had cut it's way through the middle of a forest. No one was talking as the little boat floated along. Everyone was tense, apprehensive about the next fight that was sure to come. The fog that had settled over them, while it was good for cover, did nothing to settle they're nerves, as it felt as though someone was watching them. Through the fog the wary ninja and bridge builder could see a wooden pier. The ferryman pushed the boat over too the pier and everyone got off the boat. Tazuna thanked the man as he left, disappearing into the mist.

"Normally, we would have gone in through the city, but we believe Gato has agents watching for me there, so I am hoping that by coming in through the forest, we can avoid detection, for today at least." Tazuna explained. Kakashi nodded, excepting the man's explanation.

The pier was close to a path that led through a forest that, Tazuna apparently knew. The forest was eerily quiet, and Naruto's hair was standing on end. He kept getting the feeling of being watched and couldn't shake it. The forest around them was thick, with trees and underbrush alike. Naruto caught a noise over to his right and flung a shuriken at it. A loud "THUNK!" represented the shuriken hitting wood. The others jumped at the sudden movement and held there breath. When nothing moved they looked at Naruto and he could feel there stares.

"What? I heard something." Naruto explained.

Sakura walked over to where the shuriken was thrown to find a rabbit scared out of it's mind.

"Naruto-baka! You almost skewered a snow hare!" Sakura scolded. Walking back to the group.

"Snow hare? What's a white rabbit doing here?" Naruto asked. As soon as the question left his mouth he heard something flying through the air. Acting before Kakashi yelled for them to get down, he grabbed Tazuna and pulled him down. Kakashi pulled Sasuke and Sakura down. A second later a large zanbato cut the air where there head's had been before becoming lodged in a tree. The blade was huge, easily six foot long with a broad blade, it had a half circle cut into the blade near the handle, and another full circle near the end. A man appeared on the handle of the blade seemingly from no where. The man stood about as tall as his sword was long. He had a lean, lanky build, but at the same time, he was huge. He wore no shirt, revealing a good number of battle scars. A pair of what looked like striped pajama pants were on his lower body and he had the lower half of his head wrapped in bandages, concealing his face. His hair was short and spiky, and he had a almost wild look in his eyes. Surprisingly enough, the man had a scent that was similar to mist. A sort of rainy, airy scent. He gave them all what could only be described as a cocky grin before speaking.

"That's as far as you go alive...unless you want to hand over the bridge builder, then I might be inclined to let the rest of you live." The man said, the same grin plastered on his face.

Pulling his headband up, Kakashi spoke up. "Momichi Zabuza, A-rank missing nin from kiri, once part of the seven swordsmen of the mist." Kakashi stated.

Sakura shivered slightly at that. It didn't sound as though Kakashi was mad, or anything of that sort, but his voice dropped it's usual lazy tone and had some sort of indescribable edge to it. With his headband fully pulled up, a three tomoe, red eye was visible. A soft gasp of surprise escaped Sasuke. Sakura didn't know what it was, so she didn't know what to make of it. Naruto, who couldn't see it, choose to ignore his teammate's reaction to whatever it was kakashi did and stay focused on Zabuza. The missing nin let out a laugh and began speaking again.

"Well look what we have here, Sharingan no Kakashi, or Copycat Kakashi, s-rank wanted ninja in the old kiri bingo book. And to see the sharingan this early on, what an honor." Zabuza said, giving a mock bow.

"I'll say it again, Either I kill only the old man, or I kill all of you, your choice Kakashi." Zabuza said.

"Sorry Zabuza, but if we did that, we wouldn't be very good ninja now would we?" Kakashi mock questioned, whipping out a kunai.

Grinning, Zabuza replied. "Ah, good choice Kakashi-san, Had you ran I'd have killed the old man then hunted you down on purpose for being cowards."

Zabuza bent down and gripped the handle of his sword and kicked off the tree, ripping the sword from it and landing on the water a good twenty feet away. Zabuza started to gather a large amount of chakra, enough so the water he was standing on began to ripple and splash. After a few seconds he whispered something not even Naruto could pick up with his enhanced hearing and a thick mist started rolling in.

"Team, surround and protect Tazuna!" Kakashi ordered.

The three nodded and jumped to they're positions. Sasuke was guarding Tazuna's back while Sakura had his left and Naruto his right. After a moment or so, the fog got so thick Kakashi, who was only about 3 meters away, disappeared from view. Nothing happened for a moment. Nothing but complete and utter silence. Then what felt like a massive, invisible force hit them. Feeling like it was weighing them down several times over. Naruto actually had a reason to thank the villagers for once in his life as he figured it was killing intent. Naruto was completely unaffected by it. Living his entire life in a village of people who hated him gave him some immunity. After all, you can't get much further up the scale than several hundreds of people wishing so hard that you were dead for every day of your life that it actually manifested itself into force was pretty hard to beat. Sasuke and Sakura on the other hand were having a much harder time of it. Then Zabuza spoke up again.

"Eight possible choices...liver, lungs, spine, jugular, carotid artery, brain, kidneys, heart...Which lethal blow shall I go for first?" He asked.

Naruto couldn't pinpoint his voice, it seemed to be coming from a bunch of different areas at once, must have been some sort of jutsu. And he wasn't within the Chakra dome yet, so he couldn't see him. However, Naruto found he had more pressing matters to deal with as he studied his teammates. Sakura looked absolutely paralyzed, completely still, it didn't appear as though she was even breathing, which would be a problem in a very short amount of time. Sasuke was visibly shaking, Naruto could even see his form in his chakra dome reaching for a kunai and beginning to point it at himself. Tazuna's heart was beating fast, too fast, if he didn't calm down, it was quite possible he could have a heart attack. Taking action before anything bad could happen, Naruto decided a little game was in order...

Kakashi was on edge, more so than usual when facing a Jounin level opponent. Why? Because he had his Genin team with him. He couldn't see them, hear them, anything. He didn't even hear they're quick breathing once Zabuza unleashed his killing intent upon them. His worries weren't eased as Naruto's voice could be heard.

'_...Crap.'_ Kakashi thought as he heard Naruto's voice float by.

"Neh, Sasuke, do you think he's compensating for something?" Naruto asked, a wolfish grin on his face.

Nothing moved. There was no noise, no movement, not even any_ THOUGHT _as everybody tried to regain control of themselves. The killing intent was utterly gone, whether Zabuza was in such disbelief the kid had just said what he said, or if Sasuke and Sakura were to preoccupied with the statement to notice was anybodies guess. Sasuke's mouth was open, agape with what he'd just heard. Sakura looked like a fish out of water. Her mouth would open to yell at Naruto about being vulgar, and then shut again, still not being capable of using sentences. Tazuna was undecided. The boy was either incredibly brave to a fault, or incredibly stupid. Simari was currently barking with laughter in Naruto's mind. If only he could see there expressions! That would have made her day. If anybody had been capable of paying attention to they're surroundings at that point in time, they might have noticed a violently shaking figure up in a tree about fifty yards away. Wearing hunter nin garbs and a mask. The person's mask was off and they're fist was stuffed in they're mouth to keep from laughing.

' _Oh my kami, I can't believe someone actually said that to Zabuza-Sama. It's a shame he's going to die now, I might have considered going out with him.' _

A few seconds later, as everyone's minds started to work again, Zabuza started to chuckle. In a few seconds he was laughing hysterically. Harsh, bark sounding laughs. After he finally calmed down, he grinned.

'_Can't believe the punk actually said that, I like the kid, I might just have to offer him an apprenticeship or something after I kill everyone else, but I'll have to test him first.'_

"Kid, you got some big balls there, but can you back up your talk?"Zabuza asked.

Naruto saw him enter his chakra dome and stop behind him. As Naruto turned, summoning his Katana to his hand, Zabuza kicked him. Naruto had been able to bring the katana up and block with the blade, but the sheer force of the kick snapped it in half and sent Naruto flying. He stopped very abruptly as he hit a tree ten meters away. Shaking off the blow he dropped the useless sword handle.

"Cheap blade... im gonna kick that store owner's ass when I get back." Naruto said aloud.

"I would have to agree, that was a rather cheap blade." Zabuza replied, his voice once again coming from everyhwere

Naruto summoned his Kanabo and looked around. He didn't see Zabuza anywhere. Listening, he didn't hear anything at first. But then, almost a second later, Naruto could hear footsteps coming at him, coming up on his right. Zabuza appeared in his Chakra dome again, this time swinging his sword from right to left, trying to chop Naruto in half.

"And you said _I_ was compensating for something?" Zabuza asked, as if making idle conversation.

Naruto grinned as he brought his Kanabo up just in time to keep from getting sliced. But the strength Zabuza put into his sword strikes were unfathomable. Unprepared for the vicious blow, the kanabo smacked against the side of Naruto's body. The sharp spikes piercing his skin. The momentum of the blade took over from there and sent Naruto flying through the rest of the tree he'd just hit. He flew a couple of meters into the forest and came to rest on the ground this time.

'_Ok, now I know a little about what im dealing with here.' _Naruto thought to himself.

"Damn man, you hit harder than a mule kicks." Naruto said

Ignoring the pain in his side, he stood again, getting into a ready stance, his club held in one hand and his body slightly turned, the other hand was open and ready to move. Again, Naruto heard Zabuza running at him, from behind this time. His chakra dome showed that Zabuza had his sword on his back, ready to draw it in an over the shoulder swing. Zabuza closed in and whipped the sword off his back, slashing at Naruto. The wolf-boy was ready this time though as he blocked the blade, entering a deadlock with Zabuza. The two struggled for power for a moment, and it seemed as though Zabuza was winning.

"I'm surprised you can keep up with my strength." Zabuza said, slightly impressed.

Just as Zabuza was about to throw Naruto away from him, the boy ducked under the blade. The sudden loss of opposite force caused Zabuza to loose his balance, falling forward slightly. He took a step forward to keep himself from falling, but that was a mistake. When Naruto ducked, he had spun under the blade, giving his club some momentum. When Zabuza was forced to take the step, he stepped into the path of the club as Naruto spun. There was a sickening "CRACK!" As Naruto nailed Zabuza right in the knee with the club, shattering it. Zabuza swore loudly... right before falling into a puddle of water.

"Good technique, but not good enough!" Zabuza cried

Appearing from nowhere on Naruto's right Zabuza kicked the gennin in the side. Naruto stumbled back a little but gained his balance in time to see the fist flying at his face. He leaned back enough to let the fist fly over him, then brought his foot up and kicked Zabuza in the stomach. Zabuza grunted a little before grabbing Naruto's leg. He grinned and began to spin in place. After a few moments he let go of Naruto's leg and sent him flying. Naruto flew upward, quickly getting at least twenty feet off the ground.

' _Maybe I shouldn't have enhanced that throw with chakra...' _Zabuza thought with a wicked grin.

Zabuza watched as Naruto rapidly descended towards the ground as gravity pulled him down. The boy attempted a sloppy shoulder roll to take the brunt of the damage as he landed. His left shoulder shattered on impact. He rolled a few times before coming to a stop. His pink haired teammate shrieked as she saw him fly out of nowhere and land in front of them.

"Naruto! Oh my kami, are you alright?!" She shrieked, freaking out. Naruto didn't answer at first, or move for that matter. Then he began to stir, and shakily stood up.

"I'll live." Naruto replied, using his Kanabo as a crutch.

"Or will you?" Zabuza asked as he appeared in front of Naruto yet again, mid-swing.

Kakashi, for lack of a better, more meaningful phrase, was _pissed_! Why? The moment Naruto had finished his little "Joke" Kakashi had turned to head towards him and help, only to meet a giant sword swinging at his face. He'd deflected the sword with a kunai and then flung it at Zabuza on the end of the sword. Zabuza had a surprised expression on his face before falling into water. "Zabuza" had been a water clone. After the first one, Kakashi had to fight ten other, time consuming clones before he could help his team, or, more specifically, Naruto. Why were the clones time consuming? Because of the frustrating silent killing technique! You had to wait for them to make the first strike, and they were taking there time.

Kakashi dispatched the last clone as he heard a loud "Crunch!" followed by "Naruto! Oh my Kami are you all right?"

"I'll live." Naruto replied, using his Kanabo as a crutch.

"Or will you?" Zabuza asked as he appeared in front of Naruto yet again, mid-swing. Naruto had time to bring his kanabo up to block before the massive blade struck. Kakashi watched on in horror as the Kanabo was knocked down and away. The boy didn't have the strength in his current state to deflect the blade, but protecting himself as much as he did had saved him. The Zanbato had knocked the Kanabo down from Naruto's overhead guard, but in the process, knocked Naruto back. So instead of being cleaved in half, Naruto got a deep slash from his right shoulder, across his abdomen, to his left thigh.

"Shit!" Sasuke swore as he saw the blood splatter all over.

He couldn't move because he had to protect Tazuna, and Sakura would be no match for Zabuza. Where the hell was-WHAM! Kakashi appeared from nowhere, kneeing Zabuza in the face. The missing nin stumbled back, caught off guard by Kakashi. Kakashi pressed his advantage with some impressive taijutsu. Kakashi went through a flurry of blows, punches and kicks were flying so fast it appeared as though Kakashi was blurring in and out of existence. Kakashi finished his brutal combo by jumping up and delivering a ax kick to Zabuza's right shoulder. His collar bone snapped, making his arm useless. Kakashi prepared to finish Zabuza off, going to stab Zabuza with a kunai. Someone beat him to it though as two senbon needles flew through the air and into Zabuza's neck. The missing nin's eye's widened in surprise before he fell to the ground in a limp heap. Kakashi traced the trajectory back to what appeared to be a hunter nin in a tree.

"Thank you for softening Zabuza up for me, I've been chasing him for quite some time." The masked nin said. The nin then disappeared in a swirl of leaves and reappeared by Zabuza.

"You've a brave man over there, not everyone would badmouth an A-rank missing nin just to help his friends." The nin said.

Kakashi merely nodded his agreement as he watched the nin disappear in a swirl of leaves with the body of Zabuza. lowering his headband Kakashi could feel the chakra flowing to his sharingan taper off.

"Are you guys ok?" Kakashi asked as he ran over to Naruto.

"We're fine Sensei, but what about Naruto?" Sasuke replied.

When Kakashi got to Naruto, he found the boy was somehow still conscious, though barely. Checking the boy over, Kakashi sighed in relief. None of his wounds were fata, but he could still die of blood loss. The gash on his chest was deep, but it didn't hit anything vital. His shoulder would heal with time. Before Kakashi could move Naruto the boy grabbed his wrist in an iron grip.

"Relax Naruto, your going to be fine, but we have to move." Kakashi said. Naruto shook his head and spoke.

"Kakashi-sensei...before you move me...You need to cover me in something." Naruto started, his breathing seemed labored, and it appeared as though he was concentrating on something.

"Wha- I'll explain why later...Just do it." Naruto said, not giving any room for argument. Kakashi then realized that the genjutsu Naruto always used was wavering on and off as he could feel the illusion on the boy weakening.

'_He must not want the others to see something.'_ Kakashi thought. He nodded at Naruto and motioned Sasuke and Sakura over.

"Sasuke, Sakura, give me your rain coats." Kakashi demanded, seeing that Naruto was beginning to have serious trouble. The two looked at him weird, but only for a second as the tone in his voice was urgent. Taking the coats from there packs they watched as Kakashi wrapped Naruto up into a cocoon like state. Tazuna, who had been quiet, and quite pale up to this point spoke up.

"Follow me, You'll all stay at my house, It's the least I can do, for that young man especially." The bridge builder said.

Kakashi nodded his thanks. Picking Naruto up carefully as to not aggravate his wounds, they started running towards Tazuna's. While they were running, Sakura voiced a question she, Tazuna and Sasuke had been wandering about.

"Kakashi-sensei, what did that person in the mask mean when they said Naruto was brave for helping us? How did he help us?" Sakura asked. Shifting Naruto slightly so he was easier to carry, Kakashi answered.

"Do you remember when you first started protecting Tazuna when that mist rolled in? And it felt like you couldn't breath, or you wanted to kill yourself?" Kakashi asked. He knew what affect the killing intent had on the group. He hadn't been able to do anything about it though because Zabuza had sent that squad of water bushins to keep him busy. It was the same reason he hadn't been able to help Naruto until he could.

Sakura shivered slightly, the mere memory of that event scared her. "Yes, what has that got to do with Naurto though?" Sakura asked.

"What you guys were being affected by then was killing intent. Killing intent can be nasty, sometimes making you want to kill yourself just to get away from it. It can even cause some of your body functions to cease, like forgetting how to breath." Kakashi explained. "What Naruto did was he distracted Zabuza long enough so that you three could break loose from it. He saved your lives when he did that, but he paid a high price for it. Kakashi finished.

"Oh..."Sakura said, falling quiet. _'He did that, for us?'_ Sakura thought.

Sasuke was having somewhat similar thoughts. _'What the hell did he do that for?! Dosen't he have anything to live for himself? When he wakes up I swear im going to kill him!' _Sasuke thought to himself.

Tazuna was in awe of the boy. _' I still can't believe he did that for us, I mean, I know those two are his teammates, but im a complete stranger. And he's strong to, I know I wouldn't be alive right now if I had faced Zabuza.'_ Tazuna thought to himself.

Kakashi was thinking slightly differently though. _'Naruto and I are going to have a very long talk when he's up again. He should be dead right now, having faced a jounin, and what kind of genjutsu takes priority to wounds such as these?'_ kakashi thought.

The group soon made it to Tazuna's house where they were greeted by his daughter, Tsunami...kinda.

"Father you're back! I was getting wor-OH MY KAMI! WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM!?" She screamed.

"Long story, tell ya later, right now we need a private room so I can tend to his wounds." Kakashi said.

Tsunami nodded and led them to a room on the second story of the house. Kakashi thanked her as he passed her and told them to wait inside while he helped Naruto. When Kakashi unwrapped Naruto he was aghast.

'_Kami...this is...this is what Naruto meant by hating most of the village and anything to do with it..._.' Kakashi thought when he saw Naruto's scars. He didn't notice the tail and ears right away as he was too focused on wrapping Naruto up in some bandages and setting his shoulder right so that it would heal properly. When he did see them though, which happened because he had to lift Naruto in order to get the bandages on him, it didn't really surprise him.

'_Just another thing to add to the "WHAT THE HELL!?" list for Naruto when he wakes up.'_ Kakashi thought to himself. Satisfied with his work he walked back outside. Where everyone was waiting.

"How is he?" Tazuna asked.

"He'll be fine, he won't be walking anytime soon, but he'll live. Until he is awake though, NO ONE is to go into that room, he's in a very unstable condition right now and even the slightest noise could put him into a coma." Kakashi said.

'_That should give Naruto his privacy.'_ Kakashi thought to himself as he noted the horrified looks on all there faces.

Tzuna's face split into a wicked grin as he spoke up again. "Well what about my daughter? I mean, someone's going to have to bathe him after all." Tazuna said, straight faced as possible.

"Father!" Tsunami yelled, making the old man laugh.

Team seven sweat dropped slightly at the perverted old man's humor.

- - - - - - - - - With Zabuza

The masked nin gently set the body of Zabuza down on the ground, face up.

' _Ok, I need to pull the needles out gently or I could Kill him.'_ The masked nin thought.

Reaching a hand towards Zabuza's neck, the nin was forcibly stopped as Zabuza's eyes popped open and grabbed the nin's hands.

"I'll do it myself." Zabuza said, reaching up and ripping the senbon out of his neck.

"Gently now, or you really will die." The masked nin said, watching as Zabuza possibly maimed his voice box.

"There was anything gentle about how you put me into that state?" Zabuza dead panned.

"Well it had to be convincing didn't it?" The masked nin replied.

"True, so, what did you think about that group Haku?" Zabuza asked.

The masked nin took off they're mask revealing a very feminine face, even for a girl's standard. She had small pink lips and long black hair that fell down to her lower back. Her eyes were brown and her skin was a pale white. She seemed almost like a porcelain doll, and if one had to describe her dominating feature, it would probably have to be small, as her hands, lips, nose, ears, near everything was small on her body down to her bust.

"Personally, I think the pink haired one is dead weight, the one with the black hair might have some talent, The jounin, well, I believe you know more about him with you having studied him as a Kiri nin before. As for the silver haired one, he is... different." Haku replied, a small blush adorning her cheeks as she thought of the boy.

Zabuza noticed the blush and decided a little game was in order.

"Oh, in what way?" Zabuza asked, feigning ignorance.

"Well, in jut the time I saw him he seems to have a strange sort of personality... I'm not really sure how to describe it. He seems uncaring the way he moves around and doesn't really look at anyone when he talks, or didn't answer some of his team's questions when they talked to him. But, at the same time, he showed he did care for them by pulling you off of them. He seems to be goofy at times and utterly serious at others. In all honesty I find him very interesting." Haku replied

Zabuza pulled a grin onto his face and said. "Oh my little Haku is growing up, her first crush!"

Haku blushed as she realized what he said and began to speak again.

"Even if it was a crush it;s not like I could go out with him anyways or anything, my first and ever present concern is with you Zabuza-sama." Haku said, bowing slightly.

Haku raised back up and eyed Zabuza curiously. "Why, what do you think of the boy?" She asked.

Zabuza sighed slightly, laying back onto the ground. "To be honest Haku, I have a strange feeling about that boy, like he is going to have a huge affect on us, I'm not sure what to make of it, so we're just going to see where this goes."

Haku nodded, and got to work on healing Zabuza...

- - - - - - - - Naruto's mindscape

Naruto woke up in front of Simari's cage, finding a worried Simari pacing back and forth. When she noticed he was awake she rushed forward to the bars of her cage and spoke.

"**Naruto! Your awake! How are you feeling?"** She asked.

Getting up and stretching, Naruto walked over to her and replied. "I hurt like hell, but I think I'll be fine."

Simari nodded and pulled Naruto into a hug as he got close enough to the cage. She then pulled away and grabbed a ear, pulling on it hard.

"OWW, Hey, cut it oAUGHHH, stop it!" Naruto cried as he fell to his knees while Simari nearly ripped his ear off his skull.

"**IF YOU EVER MAKE ME WORRY ABOUT YOU THAT MUCH AGAIN I'LL BEAT YOU UNTIL YOU CAN'T MOVE!"** Simari roared.

Naruto nodded his head vigorously to show he understood and she let go. Getting back up from his knees he rubbed his ear, wincing slightly.

"So, how long do you think it will take for me to be back up and on my feet again?" Naruto asked.

Simari seemed to brighten at that and gave Naruto a knowing smile.

"**I found something out with your Ookami Chakra. As of yet, you have not truly tapped into it. But since I know a little more about demon chakra than you do, I can tap into it for you and borrow some of it to help me heal you. So, more than likely, you should be good to go by tomorrow or the day after since none of the wounds were fatal, but I'd let your left shoulder rest for awhile, also, it would seem that you unlocked something when you killed that mist-nin the other day."** Simari said.

Naruto gave her a confused look before saying. "What do you mean I haven't truly "tapped into" my Demon chakra, I mean, I am a full fledged Ookami, so, wouldn't I be using my demon chakra when I use Jutsu? And what do you mean by "unlocked". " Naruto asked.

Simari sighed slightly and started to explain.

"**Not necessarily, some clan's had a sort of trial you had to pass before you could do certain things, like with m clan for instance, before I could use the regenerative properties of my chakra, I had to be severely wounded so I would know just how much my regenerative powers were helping me, and not take them for granted."** Simari explained.

"**It is possible that your Chakra has locked abilities you can't use until you meet certain requirements, but, looking at your past life, I guess the test for your regenerative properties isn't the same as mine was. So, technically, you do use demon chakra, you just can't use it to it's full extent yet"** Simari said.

Naruto nodded to show his understanding and sighed, leaning up against the cage's bars.

"And what was it that I unlocked?" Naruto asked.

"**You unlocked the ability of hyton, or ice. With this you should be able to do all kinds of interesting things with water, just use your imagination and work with it, I don't know any Ice techniques, so don't ask.Well, as I said before, I don't know a lot abut your clan, but I do know that most everyone in the clan could use the ice element, I believe it was one of the things they were known for while they were still around. There were a few other clans who could use ice techniques, but your clan was known for some of the brilliant and powerful techniques it came up with. The fact that the clan were also Ookami, and the fact wolves are made for the snow, coupled to make the perfect element for them.**" Simari said.

"Thanks for clearing that up Simari-chan, I wonder where I would be without you sometimes, I wish there was a way I could pay you back for all you've done for me." Naruto said.

Simari blushed slightly as an idea came to her, bending down she stuck her hands out through the bar and spun Naruto around so that he was facing her, before he could do anything she pulled him into a long, deep kiss. Naruto, never having been kissed before, took a moment to get the feel for it as he started to kiss back, much to Simari's delight. After another moment or two Simari broke the kiss and sat back, blushing slightly.

"Wha...?" Naruto asked.

"**Consider it thanking me for all I've done, and I want one a week at least with as much you get injured."** Simari jibed.

"I wouldn't mind doing that once a day" Naruto replied, causing Simari to blush even more.

- - - - - - - - - The next day

Kakashi and his team were up bright and early for breakfast and training. Tsunami had been generous enough to fix them breakfast with what little food that was in the house, so the day was off to a good start. The night before, Kakashi had stayed up wondering about something, but he couldn't really put his finger on what it was that was bothering him. His mind would just wonder from subject to subject, currently his mind had wondered to the subject of the New Icha Icha book that was due to come out in a few months. He eye-smiled and silently giggled as he sat down for breakfast.

Sakura had been doing a lot of thinking since yesterday, trying to figure out exactly why Naruto did what he did. Many things passed through her head as she though about it. About how Naruto could have, and almost did die. How he was able to _survive_ against a jounin rank opponent, and if she were put in Naruto's shoes, would she have done the same thing.?

Sasuke was silently contemplating why Naruto had done what he did himself. Why would Naruto put his own life, his own goals, his own dreams at risk for people he barely even knew? Sasuke was unsure if he would have done it himself, given that he still had to kill Itachi and rebuild his clan. When his thoughts started on Itachi Sasuke started his normal routine of brooding and doing anything and everything that was asked of him moodily.

Tsunami and Tazuna weren't thinking much as they were both preoccupied with what they were doing. Tsunami cooking breakfast and Tazuna going over the plans for what he was doing on the bridge that day. Inari was currently out and about doing who knows what.

They were all broken out of there respective thoughts as a sleepy "Morning." broke through the silence. Kakashi's visible eye widened to immense proportions. Sasuke was once again openly gaping. Sakura blushed and fainted. Tazuna choked and spluttered on the coffee he was drinking. Tsunami turned around, gasped, blushed and then fainted. Naruto was standing in the doorway that led from the family room to the dining room/kitchen. He was shirtless from where Kakashi had bandaged him, the bandages stretching from his right shoulder, down and over his left hip and around his back. His finely toned muscles could be seen protruding through the bandages. His left arm was in a splint, keeping it in place so that the shoulder would heal properly. His headband was still securely tied to his head. He was covered in dried up blood and his hair was matted to his head. Oblivious to the unbelieving stares of those still conscious.

"Neh, where is the shower and my stuff?" Naruto asked.

"The shower is upstairs across from the room you were sleeping in, your stuff is in that room to." Kakashi said, recovering from his mild shock first.

Naruto nodded and headed upstairs. They could hear the sound of doors opening and closing, and then the shower running.

Ten minutes later Tazna was able to speak.

"But...I thought...how?" Tazuna asked.

"I have no idea Tazuna-san." Kakashi replied.

"How did he get so buff?" Tsunami asked, astounded someone his age could have that much muscle.

"Why, are you interested?" Kakashi asked slyly, playing off of Tazuna's joke from the night before.

Tsunami blushed again and started to stutter.

"Wh-what are y-you kidding me... he's too young! And I have a child!" she replied.

"I'm older than I look." Naruto said, reappearing in the room, no one having noticed the shower turn off. Naruto was back in his usual attire, seemingly more awake than he was when he first came in. Truth be told Naruto was 220 years old, even if a lot of that time was spent in the womb.

"How old?" Sakura asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I said." Naruto replied smirking a little at his inside joke.

"Really? Well, if that's the case, we think Tsunami here may be interested." Tazuna said, grinning again.

"Father!" Tsunami cried out, bashing her old man over the head with a roller.

"Is that so? Well I apologize Tsunami-san, but I don't think my girlfriends would like it very much if I came back from a mission with another girlfriend." Naruto replied, sitting down at the table.

"Girlfriends? As in more than one?" Kakashi asked, his interests raised.

"Yes." Naruto replied.

"How many?" Tazuna asked.

"Three." Naruto replied, digging into the eggs and bacon Tsunami sat in front of him.

"Three?!" Kakashi and Tazuna exclaimed, small stars in there eyes.

"Well, technically four, but im engaged to one." Naruto said, inwardly smirking.

"Engaged? Aren't you a little young for that?" Tsunami asked. Naruto wasn't able to answer as Tazuna and Kakashi disappeared.

They both instantly appeared next to Naruto, bowing to him.

"Please teach us your methods Naruto-sama!" they cried out simultaneously.

"Sorry, I don't really have any "Methods" they found me." Naruto replied.

Kakashi and Tazuna looked downtrodden as they mopped back to they're seats, muttering about lucky bastard's and such.

"Oh, Naruto, after breakfast, you and I need to talk." Kakashi said, suddenly serious, getting Naruto's attention.

"What about?" Naruto asked.

"Well, if your going to be receiving all of this female attention, your going to need to know a thing or two. We're going to have to have "the talk" and not to mention when to use and not to use a condom." Kakashi replied in the same serious tone, though smirking as Naruto started to choke on his food at the word "condom".

'_GOD DAMN ERO-SENSEI! I' M ONLY TWELVE...kinda, IT'S TO EARLY_ _TO BE THINKING THAT KIND OF STUFF!' _Naruto mentally ranted.

"**Oh I don't know Naruto, It's never to early to learn, I could go over it with you if you want, even give you a visual aide if you need it."** Simari said in a seductive voice, teasingly sliding her kimono down one of her shoulders. Naruto turned bright red before he snapped out of it.

"**GAH, IM SURROUNDED BY PERVERTS!"** Naruto cried out in both mind and real life. Simari pouted playfully as she tugged her Kimono back up and Kakashi laughed at his students expense.

"Really though Naruto, we need to talk about a few things I found while fixing you up."Kakashi said seriously.

Naruto nodded and finished his breakfast. Kakashi motioned for Naruto to follow him and they both got up and left the house. The two walked for a way in silence until they got to a near bye wooded area. Kakashi stopped and turned to Naruto.

"All right Naruto, explain." Kakashi said.

Naruto sighed, and sat down on the ground making himself comfortable. "Sit down, this will take a while." Naruto said.

Naruto told Kakashi about everything, starting with the false-demon war, and how Humans had mistook there ancestors warning. Next he told Kakashi about the demon clans and how they fought alongside the humans in the war, along with how the Ookami clan had somehow temporarily defeated them, but had lost most of it's members in the process. Naruto told how SImari and his mother had gone To the Simari's aunt, and how Simari had protected him and his mother for near 150 years. Everything to the eventual rise of Konoha and Simari's "attack.

At the end of the story Naruto looked up to see kakashi had a contemplative look in his eye, as though he was thinking. Finally, he seemed to gather his thoughts and said.

"Your still Naruto to me."

Naruto smiled at this and said. "Thank's Kakashi-ojiji"

Kakashi sweat dropped at the endearing, yet annoying title.

"Oh, Naruto, one more thing, why do you wear your headband over your eyes?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto seemed to freeze for a moment, then looked towards his sensei.

"If I show you this, you have to keep it, and everything else for that matter, a secret." Naruto said.

Kakashi nodded, leaning forward slightly.

Naruto sighed and reached behind his head, undoing the knot that held his headband on. As it fell off his head, kakashi was mortified.

"Your blind?" Kakashi asked, his voice quaking with rage, seeing the lines that went across Naruto's eyes, indictating someone had gouged them out.

"Since the age of four." Naruto replied solemnly, putting the headband back on.

Kakashi openly gaped at this. Someone did that to a FOUR year old?

"You're the third person besides Simari-chan and Iruka-sensei to know about this, I can trust you enough to keep this secret, right?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi shook himself from his stupor. "Of course Naruto, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry." Kakashi said.

Naruto just smiled and waved it off. "You didn't do anything, nothing to be sorry about." Naruto answered. "So, what are we doing today for training?" Naruto asked, changing the subject.

"I'm going to have you three do the tree climbing exercise, if you know what I'm talking about." Kakashi answered.

"Ehh, Kakashi-sensei, I've already did that and water walking with Simari-chan." Naruto answered.

It was true, It was one of the few things Naruto was able to learn without being able to see. Naruto may not need chakra control for Ninjutsu since he could do so little, but he could still use Chakra to strengthen and heal himself, not to mention walking on water was just too cool to pass up in Naruto's opinon.

"Hmm, what all have you covered with Simari?" Kakashi asked, using the kitune's name.

"Well, the Chakra control exercises, how to use Chakra to strengthen and heal myself, weapons, how to do the summoning tatoo's, that was tricky, weapons training, hand-to-hand of what she knew, and weight training." Naruto finished.

"No jutsu?" Kakashi asked.

"I never got a chance to learn the hand signs before my "incident" So I can only use one hand sign justu's, like Kawarmi and Henge. I was lucky to see a Chunnin use Kage bushin when I was three and I committed the hand sign to memory." Naruto said.

"Ah, I see...ok, how about you guard the house?" Kakashi asked. "After I set Sasuke and Sakura up with tree climbing im going to be guarding Tazuna at the bridge, that should cover all our bases shouldn't it?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto nodded an affirmative and he and Kakashi walked back to the house.

Walking in, they found everyone at the table. "Ok, Sakura, Sasuke, you two are coming with me to learn a new training exercise, since Naruto already knows it, he's going to be staying here to guard Tsunami and the house." Kakashi said. Sasuke and Sakura nodded and got up to follow Kakashi.

"Tazuna-san, if you would wait for just a little bit and let me set my team up with this exercise, we will go." Kakashi said. Tazuna nodded and Kakashi led Sasuke and Sakura out the door.

"Oh, father, we're almost out of food again." Tsunami called from the kitchen.

Tazuna sighed and called back."Ok, I'll see what we can get at the store!"

"Hey, I could probably get you guys some free food, I think I have a scroll with vegetables in it somewhere and I could probably find a deer or something somewhere." Naruto volunteered.

"Ah, you don't have to Naruto, you've already done quite a bit." Tazuna replied.

"It's all right, I was getting kinda bored anyway." Naruto replied.

"Weren't you supposed to stay and watch the house though?" Tazuna asked anxiously.

"Hmm? Oh, right, yeah I can leave some shadow clones here to watch and help around." Naruto replied.

"Shadow clones?" Tsunami questioned.

Naruto nodded and brought his hands together in a cross and whispered. "Shadow clone jutsu."

Ten Naruto's popped into existence.

Tazuna and Tsunami's eyes nearly popped out of there heads.

"There, that should cover the home front, do you need some clones to work with you at the bridge Tazuna?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm...I could always use more helping hands, how many can you make?" Tazuna asked.

Naruto once again brought his hands together and whispered his technique. There were a bunch of loud, simultaneous pops outside as thirty more Naruto's poof into existence.

"Your not normal, even for a ninja are you?" Tazuna asked, eyeing the clones outside.

"You've got no idea." Naruto replied smirking somewhat. Hopping out an open window, he set off for some near bye woods.

"Bah, what a showoff!" One of the clones near Tsunami said, causing Tsunami to jump.

"You guys talk too?" She asked.

"That's not all we can do." Said another clone, winking at her. Tsunami blushed as the clones chuckled heartily with Tazuna.

Kakashi walked in and motioned for Tazuna to come with him. Tazuna got up and left with Kakashi, there small clone army bringing up the rear.

- - - - - - - - - - with Sasuke and Sakura

"GAH, TREES ARE THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!" Saskue roared, much to Sakura's amusement. She was sitting on a tree branch at the top of her tree thinking how Naruto would wish he could of heard that.

- - - - - - - - - - with Naruto

Naruto suddenly sneezed loudly, causing the deer he'd been stalking to snort and run off.

"Dammit!" Naruto swore, giving chase from the treetops. Skipping along from branch to branch for five minutes, he finally got a clear shot at the deer and sent a Shuriken whizzing at it. The deadly star hit the deer square in the head, dropping it right there. Naruto grinned and dropped down next to the deer. He retrieved his bloody shuriken and continued to cape the deer. After the deer was capped, Naruto picked it up and slung it around his neck like an oversized scarf. After a good ten minutes of walking a sound like whimpering caught his ear. His curiosity getting the better of him, Naruto changed course to head toward the noise. Another two minutes of walking through the woods at a steady upward slant brought him up on a wolf, who had it's paw stuck in a bear trap. The wolf had a mixture of white and grey hair mixing all over, making it look a lot like snow on a mountain side. He seemed about the same size, if not a little longer than your average wolf with blue eyes.

Naruto slung the deer off his shoulders and let it hit the ground with a loud "Thump" alerting the distressed wolf to his presence. The wolf looked up at him and it's tail became stiff, and level with the ground. It's hackles raised and it beared it's teeth at Naruto in a I'm-fucking-pissed-come-near-me-and-I'll-bite-something-off look. Naruto stopped and raised his hands, showing he didn't have anything.

"Whoa, easy there, I ain't gonna hurt ya, im gonna help ya."

Naruto said. Oddly enough, the wolf stopped growling, but still watched Naruto suspiciously. Naruto easily walked forward until he was near the wolf and bent down to it's level. Kneeling on one leg Naruto reached down to the traps teeth and pushed down, forcing the jaws apart. The wolf brought it's injured paw up out of the trap and hobbled away from it a few steps before Naruto let the trap snap shut.

Turning around, Naruto smiled at the wolf and said. "There ya go."

Much to Naruto's shock a male voice answered _"Thanks!"_

Naruto eyed the wolf wearily. "Did you just speak?" Naruto asked.

The wolf seemed to give it's own surprised look. _"Did you understand me?" _The wolf asked.

"Yeah, I did." Naruto answered.

The wolf's eyes seemed to widen to comical proportions before it quickly asked. _"Are you a part of the Ookami clan?!"_

Naruto nodded his head and replied. "Yeah I'm the clan heir." Naruto answered.

The wolf then did something Naruto did not expect, it bowed, remaining sitting up right, but his head looking down to the ground.

"_Eh, sorry about earlier, I wasn't sure if you were a threat or not." _The wolf said, trailing off.

"Eh, no problem, name's Naruto, how about you?" Naruto asked.

"_I am called Aturu, part of the wolf companion family of the Ookami clan." _Aturu answered in a boring tone, as if he was repeating a pre-written sentence..

"Wolf companion?" Naruto asked.

Aturu nodded. _"Yes, you see, once a member of the family, like you, reached ten years of age, they would gain a wolf companion." _The wolf answered.

"Hold on a sec, how have you lived for 150 years? And where is your partner?" Naruto asked.

The wolf looked downtrodden for a moment before answering. "_When a wolf and an Ookami clan member become partners they share a blood ritual. In doing so, It gives they're wolf companion they're life span, as for my partner, I lost her in the false-demon war." _Aturu said, a sad look on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry I brought up a painful memory." Naruto said.

The wolf looked up and shook it's head. _"It's all right Naruto, you didn't know." _Aturu said.

"Well, would ya like to come back to where im currently staying with me? I could take a look at your leg when we get there." Naruto said, pulling out a scroll.

"_Well of course, I'm not just going to up and leave one of the first decent people I've met in awhile." _Aturu answered. Naruto nodded and sealed the deer into the scroll he had brought out. Afterwards, he picked Aturu up, much to the wolf's displeasure, and began carrying him back to the house.

"_Hey! Whataya think yer doin!?" _The wolf barked at him.

"What else? I'm carrying you back to the house." Aruto replied.

"_I can walke perfectly fine on my own." _Aturu retorted.

"Pfft, yea right, your foot looks like it's just barely attached to your leg!"

"_So what? I look like a damned scarf right now!" _Aturu yipped.

"The two continued back to the house talking in this fashion, bickering back and forth and unknowingly becoming very fast friends. It was late that afternoon when they finally got back. Tsunami, being in the kitchen as usual, heard Naruto talking to someone and went outside to welcome him back.

"Welcome back Naruto, did you bring a fri...?"Tsunami said, trailing off slightly.

"Hey now, that's not nice to say about someone you haven't even met yet, though I do have to agree, from my description Sasuke does sound like an ass."

The wolf let out a few snickering sort of yips that sounded almost like someone laughing and then barked a few times.

"Hey, now what's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked

The wolf gave what appeared to be a shrug and gave a few short barks in a dead panned sort of fashion.

"Hey, I just lugged your sorry ass for two hours out of the wood's, the least you could do is show me a little respect!" Naruto said in an annoyed fashion.

The wolf let out a few more snickering yips and a single bark.

"Hey! You leave my girlfriends out of this!" Naruto replied.

"Naruto...are you talking to that wolf?" Tsunami asked.

Naruto and the wolf stopped in there argument and looked up, they both had the modesty to look somewhat sheepish.

"Sorry about that, I didn't see you there Tsunami-san. This is Aturu, by the way." Naruto said, nodding to the wolf on his shoulders.

The wolf seemed to look her up and down and then looked at Naruto. It let out a low whine and she could have sworn she saw it's eyebrows wiggle!

"No, she isn't one of my girlfriends, though with as much as people say that one of us may end up caving in and opting for it just to get people off our backs." Naruto said to the wolf causing Tsunami to blush. The wolf let out another of it's snickering yips.

Tsunami quickly got over her embarrassment, and possible beginnings to perverted thoughts. "How can you understand what he is saying?" she asked.

"Cause im good like that." Naruto said grinning.

The wolf seemed to snort and let out a whine.

Naruto coughed suddenly and "accidentally" shrugged the wolf off his shoulders, letting it fall on it's butt.

The wolf gave an indignant sort of growl but sat there with what appeared to be a wounded pride as Naruto smirked triumphantly.

Naruto turned to Tsunami. "Tsunami, do you know how to butcher a deer?" Naruto asked.

"Ah, yes, why, did you get one?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah, hold on and let me-OWWWWWW!" Naruto cried, jumping into the air. Tsunami looked down to see Aturu biting what appeared to be a tail...that was coming off Naruto. The bite caused Naruto's Genjutsu to break as a pair of wolf ears appeared on his head and his tail waved about furiously.

"**YOU GODDAMN CRAZY ASS SON OF A BITCH!"** Nartuo roared. He got down on all fours himself and bit Aturu's tail, causing the wolf to yelp and growl at him. The two were about to go at it when a loud squeal of "KAWAI!" made them both freeze. After the squeal, Naruto was vaguely aware that he was on the ground, and someone was on top of him, and his ears felt REALLY good. Then he noticed the two big, fleshy mounds that were covering his mouth.

'_So that's why I can't breath.' _Naruto thought to himself.

"**Kami Naruto, how much am I going to have to share you when I get out of here?" **Simari asked.

'_Now's not the time Sim-chan.' _Naruto replied.

"Tsunami was in her own little world,, she had never seen anything so cute! And she loved to finger them and pet them and scratch them. These ears were like her own, personal little toy that no one else was allowed to touch. She was brought out of her world slightly as she heard something. She ignored it and continued rubbing the ears. She heard something again, and paused this time, listening.

"_Tsun...Tsunami...Tsunami-san!_" looking down, she saw silverish hair, and under that, she saw a strange looking headband...

"OH!" Tsunami cried, jumping up and off Naruto. Said boy shot up into a sitting position and inhaled a comically large amount of air, before he fell back to the ground.

Meanwhile, Aturu was standing of to the side, beside himself in mirth.

'_Oh, this is just to funny, I am definitely making Naruto my new partner, he brings life to everything he does! Why even a strangulation attempt made on him is enjoyable.' _Aturu thought as he watched the woman start to fret over the unconscious Naruto.

Naruto woke up to the sound of someone saying his name.

"Naru...Naruto...Naruto-kun?"

"Gah, what happened?" Naruto asked. Looking right, he found Aturu, still chuckling. Looking to his left, he found his fleshy assassins from before dangerously close to his face.

"WHOA!" Naruto cried, leaping back before Tsunami could accidentally strangle him again.

"Those things are dangerous!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at Tsunami's chest. The woman blushed bright red before changing the subject.

"Naruto-kun, where did you get those ears and that tail?" she asked.

"Ehh...I always's had em, I just hid them." Naruto explained

"_And with good reason it would seem."_ Aturu said, chuckling lightly.

"Anyway, before I forget or something...happens again, here's that deer I got for dinner, and those vegetables." Naruto said, pulling two scrolls out and unsealing the deer from one.

"Just holler at me when you need me to unseal the stuff from the other scroll." Naruto said.

"Could you take care of the deer while I look at his foot Tsunami?" Naruto asked, bending down to check Aturu's foot.

"Of course Naruto-kun." Tsunami replied, dragging the deer away.

"Well, it didn't get infected, looks like it just need's bandages and some ointment." Naruto said.

"_Ok, by the way, in all seriousness thanks for your help today Naruto, I'm not sure what would have happened if you hadn't shown up."_ Aturu said.

Naruto smiled and replied. "It was no problem."

The moment of bonding was cut short as someone walked up on them.

"Narut-KAWAI! Omff!" Aturu sighed, being around Naruto certainly wasn't boring. Inspecting the pink haired woman who had just attached herself to him, Aturu sighed in relief.

'_At least this one can't strangle him...'_


	5. Training

Hey all, Pretty short chapter here, but it was important set up for the next chapter. That and i kinda wanted to get at least one new chapter up fairly fast for all those who waited so long. he next chapter will be a lot longe as it's going to include the ending of the wave arc and the return trip to Konoha. (excuses aside, consider this a filler chapter just so you guys know im not blowing my fans off and im still writing, i just seem to have incredibly bad luck --")

Naruto let out a long sigh after he sipped some of the green tea Tsunami had made them. He had been sitting at this table for two hours, trying to explain to his teammates, Tazuna, and Tsunami that he was a full fledged wolf demon, but that he wasn't about to try to kill them all in there sleep. Kakashi, having already heard the entire story, just sat back and watched how his student handled the predicament.

"Okay Naruto, so let me see if I have this straight, You're a wolf demon, who became a ninja in order to earn a living and not have an excuse to horribly maim people, and you hid your tail and ears to avoid persecution, you hadn't planned on telling anyone yet aside from Kakashi-sensei because he saw the ears and tail, but when your wolf bit your tail it broke your genjutsu and allowed everyone see it, is that right?" Sakura asked, breathing deeply.

'_Well, he broke SOME of my genjutsu, but they don't need to know about that yet.'_

"That's about the size of it Sakura, though, just for the record Aturu isn't _my_ wolf, he's my partner and very touchy about people thinking of him as my property, he _does_ understand English, though he lacks a few muscles to actually speak it. Naruto said.

Sakura shot an apologetic look at the wolf who nodded his acceptance.

"Then what would you call your race?" Sasuke asked, somewhat interested.

'**We didn't really have a name for our race, per se. Instead, you would usually address who your talking to by the sub-species. Such as if you were talking to an Ookami that you didn't know, you would call them "Ookami-san" After you learned there name you just called them by that.** Simari explained.

'_Thanks Sim-chan.'_

"Well, from what I understand, we didn't really have a name for our race, you just called us by our type, such as Ookami or Kitsune, and then once you knew our name you just called us by that." Naruto replied.

"So...even though your not technically human...your still Naruto, right?" Tsunami asked from the kitchen. Naruto smiled at the woman and nodded.

"That's right Tsunami-chan." Naruto replied.

"Do you have any other secrets?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, but none that you need to know, you can even be put to death for one in Konoha if you knew about it." Naruto replied.

"Put to death over a secret? I'm glad I never lived in a shinobi village, im not sure I could have put up with it." Tazuna stated.

Naruto shrugged. "You get used to it. However, are we all done delving into my personal life?" Naruto asked.

"Why did you save us back when we fought Zabuza?" Sasuke asked. The question had been driving him up a wall. Mainly because he didn't know if he would have done it or not. He needed to live to kill Itachi and restore his clan, he couldn't die yet. But that didn't mean he necessarily wanted any of his friends to die either.

"Wouldn't you have done the same thing?" Naruto asked. Sasuke looked down for a minute before answering.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. If I knew I wasn't going to die, I know I would, but if there was a chance I would die and Itachi lived...I'm not sure I could do it." Sasuke replied honestly.

"Naruto frowned somewhat before answering. "I did it cause I consider you, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei family. I would do the same for any of my friends and probably even strangers because I don't like to see people get hurt." Naruto answered.

"You consider us family? Like actual family?" Sakura asked, disbelieving somewhat. Naruto smiled once again and nodded.

"Why? What have we done for you?" Sasuke asked.

"You accepted me for who and what I am, when I saved you from Zazuba, we were friends, when you accepted me for me, even though you still don't know everything, you became family." Naruto answered with a happy smile on his face, his tail swaying behind him merrily.

The three other ninja were touched. Sasuke would never have thought Naruto would think of him like that, or anyone for that matter. Maybe it was time for him to put Itachi behind him and move on with life? With a new brother.

'_And possibly a new woman.'_ Sasuke thought to himself as he gazed at Sakura. He quickly caught what he was doing and shook himself out of it before anyone could notice.

Sakura was much the same as Sasuke, particularly since she had been somewhat crude to Naruto before because her mother had said it was all right to mistreat him. Maybe she should stop putting so much thought into what others do and think. Kakashi just sat there with a smile on his face thinking it was nice to have friends.

"However, if you think that mean's I'll let you touch my tail, your sorely mistaken." Naruto said in a serious voice. The others sweat dropped slightly at the mood breaker, but let it pass as Tsunami came out of the kitchen with food.

Tsunami put the food on the table and everyone began to eat in enjoyable silence. A few minutes later Inari came into the room. The boy seemed to have a serious problem with happy moods in general. Naruto had noticed him skulking around the past few days. Glaring at everyone and everything, particularly the ninja. Inari seemed to struggle with himself for a moment before shouting at the ninja.

"Why!? Why are you helping us?! Your all just going to die!" The boy yelled.

Naruto and Aturu visibly blanched as the loud yell assaulted they're ears. "We're helping because for one, Its what we're paid to do. And secondly, It's the right thing to do." Naruto answered.

"The right thing to do? What would you know about it? About how much we suffered? I bet you just live some babied, comforted life back where you came from!" Inari yelled at him.

Kakashi visibly tensed as Naruto stopped eating. He had seen only a _little_ of what Naruto had to put up with, and it had nearly made him sick. Kakashi raised an eyebrow as Naruto started to chuckle, then laugh in a manner much like Zabuza.

"Even if you _were_ right about me leading a babied life, at least im _trying_ to help people who need it. What are you doing? Your sitting there and crying like a little baby while those precious to you are risking they're lives to fix they're home, _your_ home. And if _you_ have decided it's impossible to stop Gato, to complete the bridge, to protect your family, then sit back and cry like a little baby, I'll protect them, so _no one_ has to put up with what I have"Naruto finished, leaving a crying Inari and stunned room. He grabbed his hooded jacket and walked out the door, Aturu following shortly after.

Everyone unleashed a breath they didn't notice they were holding as Naruto left. Inari numbly turned around and walked up to his room. Kakashi followed shortly after and set Inari straight on Naruto's life, and why he had snapped.

- - - - - - - - - - with Naruto

"Pessimistic little piss ant..." Naruto mumbled, walking through the woods.

'**Oh come on Naru-kun, cheer up, he's just a little kid.' **Simari said.

'_I know, but it still makes me mad.'_ Naruto answered. Sighing in frustration, he plopped down on the ground and tried to clear his head. Naruto had stormed his way through the forest and into an unfamiliar clearing. A lot of tall trees stood around the clearing, a small pond was situated where the ground ran lower, reflecting the waxing moon and illuminating the area. The wolf boy looked up as he heard Aturu enter the clearing he had stormed into.

"_Are you all right Naruto?"_ Aturu asked. Naruto sighed and nodded his head. Thinking for a moment, Aturu seemed to brighten as he had an idea.

"_Come on, why don't we go for a hunt, the moon's three quarters full, more than enough light with which to hunt." _Aturu said. Naruto frowned slightly.

"_That's right, I forgot to tell Aturu..."_

"I forgot to tell you this before Aturu, but im blind." Naruto replied.

Aturu blinked before asking. _"Your blind? How did that happen?"_ Naruto grimaced and replied.

"You'll see when we return to my home village." Aturu nodded, seeing he had picked up a sore subject.

"_Then I have good news, there is a certain technique within the Ookami clan that allows partners to see from each other's eyes_. _It is not permanent, usually used as a scouting technique." _Aturu explained. The offer needless to say, intrigued Naruto.

"Interesting..." Naruto said.

Aturu nodded. _"So how about that hunt?"_ The wolf asked. Naruto sighed before answering.

"I'd like to Aturu, but I didn't come out here just to blow off steam, I really need to train in case we run into trouble on the mission again." Naruto said.

"_Hmm...what are you training? Speed, strength, stamina...?"_ Aturu asked.

"Judging from my last battle, I need to build up my strength." Naruto replied

"_Hmm, strength training eh? I have an idea that might help with that, but you shouldn't do it to often for risk of permanently damaging your muscles. Have you unlocked your regenerative properties yet?" _Aturu asked. Naruto shook his head and the wolf continued.

"_Hmm, are you sure?_" Aturu asked

"Positive, thus far i've been relying on my partner, Simari-chan for that." Naruto replied. The wolf gave Naruto an inquisitive look.

"_Simari-chan?"_ Aturu asked.

Naruto sighed. Telling Aturu the story was going to be a real pain in the ass, so he settled in for a long story and had the wolf do the same.

"It all started roughly two-hundred years ago during the false demon war..."

As Naruto wove his, and simari's life into a grand tale, Aturu remained quiet and let the wolf boy talk. To say it was anything short of astonishing would have been a crime. At least that's how Aturu saw it. To see how people's lives twisted and turned to take the most wildest and unexpected directions truly amazed Aturu as he thought about the over all scheme of how The false demon war affected the Kitsune and Ookami clan. Leading to Simari and Naruto's mother's flight to simari's aunt. How the old Kitsune used the ancient sleeping Jutsu to forestall Naruto's birth and how Simari watched over the child and mother for over two centuries, all leading to how Simari was sealed into her own husband's Stomach.

"And that's the story, So, what was that training you had in mind?" Naruto asked, wanting to get off the subject of his life. Shaken out of his thoughts, Aturu took a moment to remember what exactly it was he was going to teach Naruto.

"_Have you gotten your first kill yet?" _The wolf asked. Naruto nodded and the wolf gave a grin.

"_Good, I can teach you a little about how to use ice, as for my strength gaining technique, what your going to do, is basically train like hell, then use Simari-san's regenerative properties to mend your ripped muscles quickly, then repeat the process."_ Aturu explained. Naruto gave a thoughtful look and shrugged, getting up and stretching.

"All right, sounds like that's a good idea, any specific way to go about this?" Naruto asked. The wolf nodded.

" _Your going to do 20 repetitions of each exercise as fast as you can, and your going to keep doing that until you can't move, now snap to!"_ Aturu said in a commanding voice. Naruto nodded and started doing squats as fast as he could.

- - - - - - - - 2 hours later...

Naruto was drenched in sweat, his entire body quivering with the strain of remaining upright to finish the squats he was doing. Normally when he did exercises, he did them at a normal pace and took breaks in between sets. Now as soon as he finished one, he hopped straight to the other, and the strain was showing with no breaks. His muscles felt like they were on fire every time he moved. His actual movements had slowed down quite a bit as he was finishing each repetition by sheer force of will. Pushing against the ground with the last of his energy, Naruto exhaled and then collapsed after finishing the push-up, his eyes closing as he hit the ground.

"_That was pretty good, now let Simari-san heal you, if she would." _Aturu said.

'**Naru-kun? Do you have a minute?' **Simari asked, somewhat timidly.

'_What's up Sim-chan, ' _Naruto asked.

'**Well, I was wondering we might be able to spend some time together here soon?' **Simari asked.

Naruto was confused slightly. So he voiced his confusion.

'_Sim-chan, what do you mean? We talk to each other all the time, I mean, you live in my naval, how can we spend more time together?' _Naruto asked.

' **Well, that's true, but you've barely been paying me any attention the past few days. I want to spend some time with you that doesn't involve near-death situations and training.'** Simari replied, hugging herself.

Naruto fidgeted guiltily at that, he hadn't been paying her any attention, he'd just been so busy.

_I'm sorry Simari, I've just been busy, I promise when I go to sleep tonight we'll spend some time together, ok?' _Naruto asked. Simari seemed to think for a moment before nodding happily.

- - - - - - - - Outside Naruto's mind

"_Are you all right Naruto?" _The wolf asked. Naruto snapped out of his daydream and nodded at Aturu.

"I'm fine, what's next?" Naruto asked. Aturu gave an evil grin that would have set Naruto on edge if he could see it.

"_Your going to repeat what you just did, however, your going to double your repetitions." _Aturu answered. Naruto visibly paled.

"You want me to do _Forty_ of everything?!" Naruto cried.

"_In the same amount of time to. So, you've got two hours, might want to get to work lest you face the consequences of failing." _Aturu said.

"What consequences? Naruto asked.

"_If you don't finish on time, you'll find out." _Aturu replied slyly. Naruto was a blur as he ran through his exercises as fast as he could after that.

_- - - - - - - - - - - The next morning_

Naruto woke up from a wonderful dream that included a certain arctic fox to the smell of raw meat. Taking another sniff of the air, Naruto found Aturu was near, and had apparently caught breakfast.

"_Good morning Naruto, eat your breakfast quickly, then we're going to go over ice techniques."_ Aturu said. Naruto nodded and started to set up a fire. However, halfway through setting up a pit, he caught wind of he dead rabbits again, and had the sudden urge to just eat them raw. Shaking off the feeling he quickly fixed and ate his breakfast, joining Aturu over by the pond in the clearing after he finished.

"Thanks for breakfast Aturu." Naruto said.

"_Bah, no problem Naruto, let's just get started."_ Aturu replied. Naruto nodded and took a seat in front of the wolf. After Naruto got comfortable, Aturu began speaking.

"_Okay Naruto, As you know, you can also use hyton. However, that doesn't mean you can use Hyton ninjutsu."_ Aturu said. Naruto frowned slightly as he spoke.

"What's the difference between the two?" Naruto asked. Aturu gave a knowing smile and started to explain.

"_The difference between being able to use hyton, and using hyton ninjutsu is quite big. You see, when one uses hyton ninjutsu, they are actually combining wind and water ninjutsu to form hyton techniques . When one uses hyton, they are actually manipulating the hyton element._ Aturu explained.

"I still don't see the difference, aren't you still just forming Hyton regardless of which way you do it?" Naruto asked.

Aturu shook his head and spoke again.

"_No, when you use hyton jutsu, you are basically just mixing a wind and water jutsu together to form a new jutsu which you can't manipulate and waste quite a bit of chakra to pull off, since your essentially doing three jutsu at once. When you use the__ element__ hyton, you have actual control over the element, capable of manipulating it into shapes, forms, all kinds of things and it takes no where near as much chakra or concentration as using three jutsu at once." _Aturu explained.

An enlightened look came over Naruto's face as he finally grasped the concept of what Aturu was saying.

"So, for example, I could manipulate the hyton element to create ice sickles to impale enemies without using hand seals?" Naruto asked. Aturu grinned and nodded. Naruto's mouth was open as if it were on a hinge.

"TEACH ME TEACH ME TEACH ME!" Naruto cried out, bowing to Aturu. The wolf chuckled at his antics and got to work.

"_Ok, first thing's first, your going to have to learn how to manipulate wind and possibly water. We should probably start with wind, since were here in wave country and everything." _Aturu said. Naruto gave the wolf a confused look.

"I thought I just needed to learn how to manipulate ice? Not learn how to make ice Jutsu with wind and water jutsu." Naruto questioned.

Aturu nodded before speaking. _" Normally, that would be the case when. However, we have to do things differently. When Ookami clan members were taught how to manipulate ice, we were in our homeland, which was constantly covered in snow and ice, thus eliminating the need to learn how to manipulate wind and possibly water to create ice. However, since we currently are nowhere near any ice, your going to have to use wind chakra to form ice out of the water around here so you have something to manipulate." _Aturu explained.

"Ah, that makes sense, so how do I learn to manipulate wind chakra?" Naruto asked. In answer to the wolf-boy's question, Aturu picked a leaf up in his mouth and spit it into Naruto's hand.

"_What you need to do, is try to force your chakra to take an edge and cut the leaf in half."_ Aturu said. Naruto looked confused as he pondered the reason for the exercise.

"Regardless of the answer, im still going to do it, but why do I need to cut the leaf? Wouldn't I need to try and make it float on wind or something?" Naruto asked.

"_Good question, I can see where your coming from with having it float on wind, which is something, if given enough time and practice, you could do. However, that isn't the only property the wind element has. What wind users are most known for is the_y'_re mid, to short range combat because of wind chakra's cutting ability." _The wolf explained

"Cutting ability?" Naruto asked. Aturu nodded.

"_Wind chakra is sharper than the most expensive kunai or Katana, capable of cutting through things the sharpest steel can't." _Aturu said. The look on Naruto's face was one of awe as he thought about the capabilities of what he could do with wind chakra.Before Naruto could delve too far into the possibilities Aturu brought him back to earth with a light nip on the hand.

"_Before you go spacing out on me about all the wondrous things you could do, let's take this one step at a time, so get to work on that leaf, I'll be back in a little bit." _Aturu said before he turned around and dashed into the woods. Naruto frowned slightly as he started forcing chakra into the leaf to find... that nothing happened.

"Something tells me this may take a while..." Naruto thought to himself.

And this was how Naruto spent the rest of his week. In the morning he would wake up and begin working on mastering the use of wind chakra. When the afternoon rolled around, he'd go back to the house for lunch and to replace his shadow clones. And a strenuous evening of intense strength training would follow. Often time he wouldn't even move from where he dropped and just sleep th night in the woods, which is how he was found as a young woman found her way into the clearing looking for more herbs...

Hmm, I just can't seem to find that herb..." Said the young woman known as Haku. She bent down to the trunk of a tree and started sorting through all the herbs she saw.

'_...to leafy...to long...jeeze, this one looks almost like a string bean, wrong!...to furry...wait, furry?'_ Haku suddenly stopped to take a closer look at what she found. It was long, probably a little over a foot, if not a foot and a half. And it had grey silver fur all along it's length. As her tunnel vision cleared, she saw two legs on either side of the tail that were covered in black cargo pants. This led her to a muscled abdomen covered by a grey muscle shirt. Then she saw a head. It had three whisker like marks on either cheek, eyes covered by a headband and spiky silver hair. And at the very top were a pair of..."

'_Oh...my...Kami...SO CUTE!' _Haku mentally cried as she saw the ears. She was about to dive closer to get a better feel when suddenly, (and to her slight disappointment) a full picture formed in her mind. Showing the young man who was with the group of Konoha ninja who were protecting the old man.

'_This is the one Zabuza-sama was interested in...oooh, what do I do? Would Zabuzasmam won't me to bring him back? Kill him, leave him alone? Oooooh...'_

Haku's hand shook indecisively as it creeped down to her side where she kept a hidden senbon needle...

-to be continued...


End file.
